New little Sister
by Tracey4t
Summary: Ema and her brothers are in for a real surprise when their parents bring a new little sister name Kimi home. However all are more than willing to help make the little girl feel welcome especially Waturu who's eager to prove he can be just as good a big brother as his own.
1. Chapter 1

DISCALIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS' CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi giggled as she came running out into the courtyard of the orphanage she called home to play with her fellow orphans. In her hand she held Beenjee, her brown stuff elephant and her all time favorite toy.

"Hi everyone!" she shouted with joy.

"Hi Kimi!" all her friends all shouted back.

"Kimi come and play with me!"

"No Kimi you should come play with me!"

"Kimi, think you can beat me to the top of the jungle gym?"

"Kimi, come on let's make the sand castles!" Kimi looked around confused but with a smile on her face. She loved having so many friends around her to play with, even when it got complicated about who to play with first. That's why she loved living in the orphanage. She was never really alone, not when she had so many friends to play with. Granted sometimes she wished she could have her own mommy and daddy but she still had all of her friends and they were just as good as any family could be.

Kimi didn't really remember her real parents. As far back as she could remember she'd always lived at the orphanage and she was only five years old, or close to five. Her birthday was coming up soon after all. The only thing she knew for sure that she had from her former life before the orphanage was Beenjee since he had been with Kimi her whole life as well. She didn't mind too much though. She was happy in all honesty and she didn't want to see that change ever.

"Kimi, want to race on the bikes?" one of her other friends called out.

"Well," Kimi said looking around at all of her friends who had asked her to play with her. This was normal for her. At least none of her friends didn't seem too mad when she picked someone over them.

"Pick me Kimi, pick me," her friends all stated calling out to her.

"Kimi," another voice suddenly called out. This one didn't belong to one of the other kids. It belong to one of the workers of the orphanage. Kimi saw her standing in front of the steps that of the building smiling. Behind her stood a man and woman with arms linked and both were also smiling at Kimi eagerly. The worker motioned Kimi to come to her. Kimi felt a little scared being called over but still obeyed.

"Kimi, I want you to meet someone," said the worker taking Kimi's hand and leading her over to the couple standing at the door, "This is Mr. Rintaro Hinataand his wife Miwa Asahina. Do you remember them at all? They were here a few weeks ago with a bunch of other people who were doing things like helping to give money for new beds and toys here at the orphanage?"

"Yes," said Kimi with a slight hesitation. She remembered the big party the orphanage held a few weeks ago where a lot of people in suits and fancy dresses had come and looked around talking to people with cameras about giving things to the orphanage for Kimi and her friends. She did actually remember the two people among them. For some reason they had seemed really interested in being with Kimi the whole time they were here.

"We were so captivated with Kimi we couldn't get her out of our minds!" said Miwa, "So much in fact that we've decided to come back to adopt her."

"Huh?" said Kimi. She was starting to feel confused with what it was the lady just said and a little scared.

"Mr. Hinata and Mrs. Ashaina want to become your mommy and daddy," said the worker, "would you like that?"

"We have a lovely big home with a big courtyard I'm sure you'll love," said Miwa, "Plus you'll be getting 13 big brothers."

"13 brothers?" Kimi repeated.

"Yes big brothers, all of whom I'm sure you'll love and will love you," said Miwa.

The idea of the 13 big brothers didn't really sound all that appealing to Kimi. She'd rather just stay with all her friends whom she'd know and were her age. Older meant the 13 brothers were all older than her right? That probably meant they weren't going to be as much fun as her friends.

"And you'll also get a big sister," Rintaro finally mentioned. That got Kimi's attention.

"I'll get a big sister?" she asked eagerly. That was something she had always secretly wanted. She had heard how often sisters would do things like dress alike and help each do their makeup.

"Oh yes and she will definitely enjoy getting a little sister!" said Miwa with delight, "Just as we're going to enjoy getting to have a daughter like you in our lives!"

"Would you like that Kimi?" asked the worker.

"Well, I don't know," Kimi admitted, even though she did like the idea of having a big sister.

"Why don't we show her a photo of her new siblings?" Rintaro finally suggested.

"Oh that's a good idea!" said Miwa, "Do we have one with all 13 boys and Ema?"

"Hmm," said Rintaro pulling out his phone, "I think Ema sent me one with all of the boys in it. Ah here we go." He knelt down to Kimi's level and showed her a big group picture of a bunch of men and one girl all sitting together on a huge couch. All of them did indeed looked a lot older than her including littlest one among them with pink hair. "These are the brothers we were talking about along with your new sister," said Rintaro, "All some of the nicest boys and one of the sweetest young ladies in the world."

"That is so true!" said Miwa.

"But there's two girls in that photo," said Kimi pointing to a woman in a black dress and long flowing hair.

"Huh?" said Rintaro looking at the photo himself, "Oh him. No that is one of your brothers trust me. He just likes to dress up as a girl from time to time." That surprised Kimi.

'Adults still play dress up?' she thought.

"Trust me that girl right there in the middle is the only real girl," Rintaro said pointing to the young girl sitting in the middle.

"What's that thing on her shoulder?" Kimi asked when she noticed a some sort of creature on her supposable new sister's shoulder in the picture with a bow around its neck.

"Oh that," said Rintaro, "that is Juli, Ema's pet squirrel. I'm sure he'd like you a lot too."

"She has a pet squirrel?" said Kimi. She had never heard of someone having a pet like that.

"What do you think Kimi?" asked Miwa also kneeling down to Kimi's level, "Would you like a chance to become a part of this nice family?"

"Do you really want me to be a part of it?" asked Kimi.

"Very much so," Miwa assured her, "we've been thinking there was someone missing from our family and I think that someone is you my dear."

Kimi felt conflicted. The couple looked nice people and would probably be a nice mommy and daddy. Plus the idea of getting a big sister was really exciting. However there was the fact that she was going have to leave the only home she'd ever knew along with all her friends and go to some weird place with big brothers, 13 of them none the less.

"We promise you, we'll love you as much as any mother or father could love a daughter," said Rintaro in a gentle comforting tone.

"Well I suppose," Kimi finally agreed.

"Oh wonderful!" said Miwa giving Kimi a big hug, "Now then we'll just go off with your nice worker lady here and get everything ready to take you home okay?"

"When will that be?" asked Kimi.

"Probably after a few days from now since they'll have to fill out some paper work," said the worker.

"But we'll still come visit you as often as we can, we promise," said Miwa. She kissed one of her fingers and then tapped Kimi's nose with it. "Believe me we very much like to take you home and make you a part of our family." Kimi merely nodded.

"Well now then why don't we let Kimi go off and play with some of her friends while the three of us go and take care of the paper work needed to take her home," suggested the worker.

"Of course," said Miwa, "we'll be seeing you soon Kimi."

"You have fun in the meantime okay?" said Rintaro.

"Okay," said Kimi as she hurried off back to the other children. As she ran back to them she realized all of them had stopped playing and had been watching Kimi with the couple.

"Kimi, what's going on?" asked one of children.

"I think I'm getting adopted," Kimi told everyone.

"Oh?" said all of the other children. Nearly all of them looked shocked and upset about the idea. However a few tried their best to put on a brave face over the idea.

"That's great," said one, "You'll be getting a mommy and daddy huh?"

"Yeah," said Kimi also trying to sound brave over the idea of being adopted.

"But that also means you're going to leave right?" said another one of Kimi's friends.

"Yeah," said Kimi, "I'm going to miss all of you."

"Don't go Kimi!" pleaded another one of her friends.

"I don't really want to but Mr. Hinata and Mrs. Asahina both seem to really want me to come home with them and be a part of their family. Plus I'm also going to get a big sister. I've always wanted one."

"So you're happy with the idea?"

"Yes I am," said Kimi, "even though I am really going to miss you all very much." At that her friends all started gathering around her offering her a big group hug.

* * *

"So it looks like you'll be able to bring Kimi home very soon with you," said the director of the orphanage going over some file work in regards for the couple adopting the little girl.

"Good, that'll give us more of a chance to get everything ready for her back at both Rintaro's apartment and my own home, The Sunrise Residence."

"Where would you imagine her living most of the time?" asked the director.

"Most likely at Sunrise with our other children due to our jobs. However we hoping to have Kimi home with us for little while so we can get to know her better after we adopt her," said Rintaro.

"Of course," said the director, "I see you two have also adopted before correct?"

"Yes, my daughter Ema is technically adopted," said Rintaro.

"And one of my sons Louis is also adopted," said Miwa.

"Good to know," said the director, "I am curious as to why you're so interested in adopting this time around."

"Well to be honest, we would love nothing more than to have a baby together," Miwa explained, "But I'm not as young as I use to be and don't think I could handle actually getting pregnant again. And since we've both done this before it seems kind of natural."

"Of course we also didn't expect to meet and fall in love with Kimi like we did," Rintaro added.

"I'm so glad we did though!" said Miwa with delight. The director smiled at the woman's enthusiasm.

"Well I see no problem with you adopting Kimi," she said, "I will just get stated on this paper work and let you know the minute you can return to pick her up."

"Wonderful!" said Miwa, "thank you so much!"

"This will also give us some time to prepare ourselves and prepare our other children for Kimi's arrival," said Rintaro.

"Oh aren't they going to be surprised," said Miwa smiling with a bit amusement over the idea of her sons and Ema's different reactions to getting a new sister.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCALIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"Hey," Ema heard Yusuke ask as the two of them walked home together after school.

"Uh yes?" she said.

"How did you do on that math quiz?" asked Yusuke.

"I think I did pretty well," said Ema, "How about you?"

"Uh I think I did pretty well too," said Yusuke sheepishly.

"You did seem to be studying pretty hard for it," said Ema.

"Uh you noticed huh?" said Yusuke. He took a deep breath while he thought.

'Okay she's noticed you've been putting more effort in when it comes to studying. The next step is to ask her to try studying together. Come on you can do this!'

"So," he started to say, "You ever think we could consider...,"

"Curse you wolf!"

"Huh?!" Yusuke managed to shout right as Juli came sailing down and landing on his face. He hadn't realized he and Ema had arrived home and into the courtyard.

"What do you think you're doing, walking so close to Chi like that!" Juli shouted as he pulled at Yusuke's hair.

"Juli!" Ema shouted in alarm before trying to pull Juli from Yusuke's face.

"Chi, I've told you time and time again you can't let yourself get too close to these wolves less they move in for a strike!"

"Juli, we were just walking home from school. Nothing happen," said Ema assured her little pet.

"Oh hello welcome home," said Masaomi walking out of the house.

"Hello Masaomi," said Ema.

"You're both home just in time," said Masaomi, "We're expecting a call from our parents. They say they have something really important to tell us all."

"What is it?" Ema asked walking in along with Yusuke.

"I'm not sure but Mother seem most insistent that as many of us be here as possible and as it turns out everyone managed to show up," said Masaomi.

"Everyone?" said Ema looking around the massive living room to see that all of the brothers were there, even Natsume and Futo.

"I hope this doesn't take too long. I have more important things to do," the pop star complained.

"I'm sure it won't take too long," said Masaomi as he placed a phone on the table and hit a button.

"Sis, sis, you should come sit next to Me!" Wataru insisted pulling Ema to the couch. The phone rang for a little bit before they could all hear the phone being picked up.

"Hello?" came their mother's voice.

"Hello Mother," the boys all said at the same time.

"Uh Hi Miwa," said Ema.

"Oh, I can hear my sweet little girl's voice!" said Miwa, "And it sounds like all of my boys are there too."

"Yes Mother we all made it," said Masaomi.

"Even Natsume and Futo?" asked Miwa.

"Yes Mom we're here," said Natsume, "Now could you please tell us what's going on?"

"Oh right," said Miwa, "Okay here it goes, your father and I are in love!"

"Isn't that what most couples want to be?" asked Futo.

"No, no, that's not what I meant, even if we're as much as love as when we met," said Miwa, "What I meant was your father and I have met and just fallen in love with a little girl from an orphanage."

"An orphanage?" Ukyo spoke up.

"Yes, Rintaro and I were at a charity even for an orphanage where we met Kimi, a really sweet and adorable little girl. We just took her to our hearts and couldn't get her out of our minds to the point that we've decided to adopt her," said Miwa.

"Huh?" shouted nearly all of the men in the room while Ema and some of the others just sat on the couch with their mouths wide open in shock.

"Mom, are you serious?" asked Azusa finally.

"Oh yes very much so," said Miwa, "And once you meet her you'll understand completely."

"So what does this mean exactly?" asked Wataru.

"It means you are all going to have a new little sister," said Miwa, "you're going to be the big brother for once."

"I'm going to be a big brother?" said Wataru, "Yay!" He jumped up and started running around the room shouting, "I'm going to be a big brother! I'm going to be a big brother."

"Will you shut-up and sit down?!" Yusuke said grabbing Wataru by his shirt.

"But I'm so excited!" said Wataru, "I'm going to be a big brother for once, me!"

"Mother, are you sure you and Rintaro really want to do this?" asked Ukyo.

"Oh yes very much," said Miwa, "we were thinking that we would like to have a child together, but weren't so sure about me getting pregnant again."

"Yes you're not that young anymore are you Miwa?" said Futo.

"I heard that Young Man!" Miwa snapped over the phone actually making Futo jump a little.

"Can I assume you'll want to have Kimi stay here at the condo with us here?" Masaomi asked.

"Well we're hoping to keep her with us for a little while since we both have some time off from work but yes when we do have to go back to work I was thinking she'd live there with all of you. Can I count on you all to help look after her?"

"Oh don't worry about that Mother, the little lady will be very safe here," said Kaname.

"So when are you planning on brining her home Mom?" asked Louis.

"Probably within the week. Right now we're waiting to hear from the orphanage about when we can bring her home," said Miwa, "And when we do, we'll make sure to bring her over to met all of you. In the mean time I am sending things like furniture and clothes to the condo for Kimi for when she starts staying with all of you. That should all be there by tomorrow at the most I think."

"We'll make sure someone's here to receive it all," said Masaomi.

"Thank you dear," said Miwa.

"How old is this girl anyway?" asked Iori.

"Oh she's four but she'll be five soon and fully ready to be starting preschool. That's another thing Rintaro and I will hopefully be able to take care of while we have Kimi with us."

"Is she going to go to the same school as me?!" asked Wataru excited.

"Yes she is," said Miwa, "It's lucky your school has a pre-school program."

"Yay, my sister and I will get to go to school together!" Wataru cheered, "I'll make sure to protect her no matter what like a good big brother."

"I'm glad you're happy about this Wataru," said Miwa, "And I hope you can all find some sort of happiness in the idea of getting a new sister just like you were when I told you Ema was coming to live with you."

"Well that would depend on if she's as cute as the last sister we got," said Tsubaki suddenly throwing his arm around Ema in an affection manner. At that Juli started hissing at him.

Ema however was quickly distracted by the sound of her phone going off. She pulled it out and saw it was a text from her father.

_**'when you get a chance I want to talk to you about your new sister if that's alright. call me when you get some time alone," **_it read. Ema nodded at the text's request.

"What's that?" Tsubaki asked, "It's not a note from a boyfriend is it?"

"Hmm?" said most of the brothers looking her way.

"Oh no it's from my father. He wants to call me," said Ema standing up, "excuse me real fast." She hurried upstairs to her room.

"So is Mom like really serious about doing this?" Yusuke asked once she was gone.

"It sounds like," said Ukyo.

"Let's make sure we all do our part to make her feel welcome once she comes home alright?" said Masaomi.

"Right," the other brothers agreed.

"Well I should get home," said Natsume standing up, "let me know when she finally arrives. I figure I should meet her in person."

"I don't care when she gets here," said Futo also standing up, "I'll meet her when I do. I have more important things to worry about after all."

"Yeah I bet you do," said Yusuke.

* * *

"Hello Dad," Ema said into her phone once she and Juli were alone in her room.

"Ah Ema hello," said Rintaro sounding happy over hearing his daughter's voice, "So tell me how are you feeling with the idea of getting a new sister?"

"Well it's sudden that's for sure," said Ema "But I am a little excited over the idea of getting a sister. I've always wanted one." Her father chuckled at that comment.

"Well I'm glad. She's seems really excited over the idea of getting a big sister herself. I'm sorry we're sort of springing this on you but we hadn't plan on meeting Kimi and falling in love with her to the fact that we really wanted to adopt her. I hope you can forgive us for that," said Rintaro.

"Of course Dad," said Ema.

"With that said I do have a small favor to ask of you and Juli," said Rintaro.

"Hmm?" said Juli at the mention of his name.

"I was wondering if your little knight would be at all interested in looking after Kimi like he does you. I think she could use the extra comfort and sense of protection at least for a little while. She seems kind of nervous of getting so many big brothers."

"As right she should. Anyone with common sense would be afraid coming into a wolves' den!" said Juli, "Don't you worry I'll protect little Chi just like I do with Chi herself!"

"I'm hearing squeaking," said Rintaro, "Is that his happy squeaks or angry squeaks?"

"Happy I guess," said Ema, "He's agreeing to what it was you asked."

"Is he, oh good," said Rintaro, "Your mother and I are really excited about all of this, but do know we still love you and your brothers just as much dear."

"I know Dad," said Ema. Just then she could hear Miwa's voice in the background sounding like she was really excited about something.

"Dad, what's going on?" asked Ema.

"I think she got a phone call from the orphanage saying we can come and bring Kimi home," said Rintaro.

"Oh that's wonderful!" said Ema with delight.

"Looks like we'll be coming to see you and the others real soon along with Kimi," said Rintaro, "I should get going. I'll call you later alright?"

"Mmm, talk to you later Dad," said Ema. She hung up smiling.

"I can't believe I'm going to get a little sister. This is really exiting. Almost as exciting as when Dad told me I was getting 13 brothers," she said with a happy sigh.

"I don't see what was so exciting about that!" said Juli, "You should have been scared about the idea of being around such wolves!"

"Juli," said Ema, "I hope Kimi is happy with living here with everyone like I am."

* * *

"So soon you'll be going home with your new parents Kimi," the director told Kimi as she sat in her office.

"I'm really going to leave?" said Kimi.

"It won't be so bad Kimi. I'm sure you'll be making lots of friends in your new life both at school and in and around your new home. I sweet little girl like you should have no problem with that sort of thing," the director assured the litlle girl , "Now why don't go and pack your things so you'll be ready for when your new mommy and daddy come to get you?"

"Okay," said Kimi walking out of the office. She walked to her room where she started gathering up her few meager possessions in to her small bag. She looked around the huge room that she shared with all the other girls as far back as she could remember. She was never going to see any of this again. Instead she was going to a strange place with strange people. Everyone kept telling her this was all a good thing, but how could something that took you away from the happy life you ever knew.

'Beenjee,' she thought holding her toy close to her heart, 'I don't care what everyone says. I'm not going to like this one bit! I'm going to me miserable from here on out!'

* * *

The next day Kimi came to the front of the orphanage where Miwa and Rintaro were both standing looking really excited at the sight of seeing Kimi.

"Hello Kimi," said Miwa with her arms outstretched ready for Kimi to come to her. Kimi reluctantly walked into the woman's embrace who immediately pulled Kimi close to her in a big hug.

"This has got to be one of the happiest days of my life!" said Miwa, "Honestly I don't know what I ever did to be blessed with so many wonderful people in my life!"

"Are these all your things?" asked Rintaro as he started to load up the few bags Kimi had packed.

"Yes," said Kimi.

"Kimi didn't have much when she first came to live with us as it is," said the worker also helping with Kimi's things."

"Well no matter. I'm sure Kimi doesn't need much to be happy huh?" said Miwa, "Especially now that you have yourself a family. What more could anyone ask for right?"

'I'd ask to stay here with my friends,' thought Kimi. She turned to look at her old home again and could see all of her friends standing at the front all waving good-bye to her.

"Bye Kimi,"

"Good luck,"

"We'll miss you,"

"Bye," Kimi finally called back also waving good-bye before she felt Miwa's hand on her shoulder and leading her to the car.

"Don't worry Kimi, maybe some day we can come back and visit your friends," said Rintaro also getting into the car.

"Really?" said Kimi.

"Plus you'll be making lots of new friends at your new school," said Miwa, "That'll be exciting too huh?"

"Uh yeah?" said Kimi. She tuned her head and looked out the back widow of the car to look at her home one more time before it disappeared completely from view. She slouched in her seat holding Beenjee close to her body. She could only imagine what was going to happen next.


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

"Now Kimi," Miwa sudenly spoke up. Kimi looked up from her slouch at the woman who was looking back at her from the front seat with a smile, "We're going to be taking you first to the Sunrise Residence. That's where most of your brothers and sister live and once your daddy and I go back to work you'll be staying there with them. In the meantime you're going to be staying at your new daddy apartment with him and me so we can have some time together."

"How long will that be?" asked Kimi.

"For a few weeks," said Rintaro, "They should have a room set up at the condo for you already so you'll be fully ready for when you go to stay with your siblings."

"They're all very excited about the idea of meeting you, especially Wataru. He's the youngest of the brothers," said Miwa, "Oh that reminds me, we have this for you." She handed Kimi a photo of her new brothers and sister, only this one seemed to have names listed above each of their heads. At least that's what Kimi thought that was what it was.

"That's each of their names so you can know who's who," said Miwa as if reading Kimi's mind.

"I can't read too well," said Kimi. She was starting to learn but she still wasn't so good at it.

"Oh I see, well I'm sure you can learn them on your own," said Miwa still smiling.

"Oh here we are," said Rintaro as he pulled up in front a huge building. Kimi looked up at it and was surprised how big it was. She was actually a little bit worried she might get lost or something in such a big place.

"So let's get inside now," said Miwa getting out of the car.

"Oh wait a second," said Rintaro walking over to Kimi's door and opening. Kimi was soon surprised when a bright light shined in her face and realized her new daddy had a camera in his hands. "A commemorative photo of Kimi's home-coming."

"Oh that's a great idea," said Miwa, "Come in Kimi, let's go inside."

Kimi got out of the car and let her new mother take her hand and lead her inside.

"Hello," Miwa called out as the trio all walked into the house, "We're here, where is everyone?"

"Ah Mom hello," said Masaomi coming down the hallway, "Welcome home."

"Hi Masaomi," said Miwa, "Kimi this is your new oldest brother Masaomi. He's a doctor."

"Hello Kimi," said Masaomi kneeling down close to Kimi's level, "It's to meet you little sister. I like your hair it's a nice golden color like Mom's." Kimi didn't say anything but instead lingered back behind Miwa.

"She's a little bit shy," said Miwa, "are any of the others here?"

"Oh yes, most of the others are in the living room," said Masaomi.

Kimi followed her new parents and brother down the hallway to the long a big room she recognized from the photo with all of her siblings. Only this time around she only saw two of the siblings, the youngest looking one and one of the brothers with blond hair. The one without glasses. She happen to glance to the side and saw the blond one with glasses in the kitchen putting some cups and treats on the cart of some sorts. He happened to turn and look to where Kimi and the others were standing.

"Oh Mom, Dad you're here," he said walking over to them, "And you must be Kimi, welcome. I'm your new brother Ukyo."

"He's a lawyer," said Miwa.

At that the other two brothers happen to notice the presences of the new comers in the room.

"Ah you're here at last," said the older brother standing up.

"Oh my new sister's here!" the other brother also shouted as he too jumped up, "Yay, my new sister's here!" Kimi was starting to feel a bit afraid as the little boy ran towards her. "Little sister, little sister!" He kept shouting only to suddenly jump up right in front of her. "Hi little sister!" he shouted loudly in her face. Kimi gasped in fear and ran away fast from the new weird little boy.

"Huh, where she's going?" Wataru asked as Kimi ran back down the way she came.

"Kimi?" said Miwa right as Rintaro hurried after her.

"You probably scared her a little," said Masaomi.

"Huh?" said Wataru.

* * *

Kimi had enough. She wanted to get out of here! She waned to get back to her real home as soon as possible.

She ran to the front door and was about to try to open it when it open on its own and another man came walking in fallowed by another one with glasses.

"Well what do we have here?" said the first man smiling at her, "A little escapee perhaps?"

"You must be Kimi huh?" said the other man with glasses, "We're your new big brothers. I'm Azusa and this is Tsubaki."

"You are as cute as Mom said," said Tsubaki tapping Kimi's nose. Kimi back up a bit only to feel herself bump into someone. She looked up and realized it was Rintaro.

"Ah Kimi I see you've met two of your brothers," he said.

"Yes and we're liking her already," said Tsubaki giving Kimi a big hug, "This is a nice to meet you hug!" Both him and Kimi were caught off guard by Azusa hitting him on the head.

"Ah, are you going to do that every time I give someone a nice to meet you hug Azusa?" Tsubaki asked rubbing his head.

"If I feel the need to then yes," said Azusa.

"Kimi," said Rintaro putting his hands back on Kimi's shoulders, "Why don't you come back to the family room okay? Wataru didn't mean to scare you like that. He's just really excited over meeting you."

"Wataru scared her did he?" said Azusa as he and Tsubaki followed the two of them back towards the main room.

"Little Sis!" said Wataru excited.

"Wataru, remember," sad Masaomi.

"Oh right," said Wataru, "I'm sorry I'm scared you Little Sister. I'm just really happy getting a new sister is all!"

"Hello Little Sister," said the other brother, "We didn't get a chance to meet before did we? I am your ever so charming big brother Kaname." He took her little hand and kissed it, "If you ever need someone to listen to your prayers don't hesitate to come to your big brother."

"Really?" said Ukyo pouring a drink, "She's only four you know."

"Your brother Kaname is supposed to be monk but sometimes I wonder about his choice of career," said Miwa looking a her son with uncertain look.

"Mom," said Kanaem, "Don't embarrass me in front of the little sister."

"Anyway, where are the others?" Miwa asked.

"They should be coming home soon," said Masaomi.

"I'm home," said Suburu walking into the family room.

"So am I," said Iori following after him.

"Oh good, come and meet Kimi," said Miwa moving some of the others aside so the two new comers could see her, "This is Suburu and Iori dear. Suburu is a basketball player and Iori is a big expert on flowers."

"I like flowers," said Kimi softly.

"Ah she talks," Kaname said jokingly.

"Hi there," said Iori waving at her.

"Hi," was all Suburu would say. He gave a her a half-smile and nothing more.

"So Kimi, what do you think of your new family so far?" asked Miwa.

"Where's my big sister?" Kimi asked. Miwa giggled a little at the little girl's response.

"She's really anxious to meet Ema," said Rintaro.

"She and Yusuke should be home any minute now," said Masaomi.

"Hey," Yusuke said suddenly walking into the room.

"Yusuke, where's Ema?" asked Rintaro, "Kimi really want to meet her."

"Oh she's here?" said Yusuke looking over at Kimi, "Hi."

"Hi, I'm here," said Ema suddenly running up behind Yusuke, "Dad, hi."

"Ema, hello, it feels like it's been forever," said Rinatro, "We just came by for you to and the boys to meet Kimi."

Kimi moved past some the of the people to get a look finally at her new sister.

"Hi Kimi," said Ema smiling, "Welcome. I'm Ema, your new big sister."

"Hi," said Kimi.

"Oh you're so cute," said Ema, "I hope the two of us can get along great."

"Me too!" said Kimi.

"Oh, Little Sis seems to like Big Sis more than me," Wataru whined.

"Well you did yell in her face," said Masaomi.

"I think they look cute together," said Miwa. Suddenly the sound the mood seemed to be ruined by the sound of someone's ring tone going off.

"It's mine," said Rintaro, "Oh its work. I better got take it. I'll be back." He walked off to the side alone.

"Why don't we take Kimi upstairs and show her the room she'll be staying in when she's living here?" suggested Miwa.

"Good idea," said Masaomi.

"Come on Little Sis!" said Wataru, "your room is close to mine so you know you'll be safe at night." He grabbed the little girl's arm and started to drag her off.

"Huh?!" Kimi managed to cry out as she was dragged away.

"I better go with them," said Ema hurrying after them.

"Yeah that would be a wise idea," said Masaomi. He looked over to the part of the room where Rintaro was still on his phone. He could hear some of the conversation.

"But I thought you said I was going to be able to take a few weeks off. No I really need this time off. My wife and I just adopted a child and we really want to spend time with her. I, okay yes understand that but, okay, no, no it's fine. I'll get on it right away. Yes I'll let you know when I'm on my way." He hung up the phone in despair.

"Everything okay?" Masaomi asked walking up behind his stepfather.

"Oh Masaomi," said Rintaro sounding upset, "That was work. They ned me to back on assignment right away. Though why they need me specifically I don't know. Apparently they need me in California. I'm sure they could get another someone else but they really want me." He gave off a heavy sigh. "And was I really looking forward to spending time with Kimi like I was."

"Well how soon do they need you there?' asked Masaomi.

"As soon as possible. I should get going right away," said Rintaro.

"What is the matter?" asked Miwa joining her son and husband.

"I need to get back on assignment right away in California," said Rintaro.

"What, but we were going to spend some quality time with Kimi for a few weeks!" said Miwa.

"I know but my work was most insistent that I get on this assignment," said Rintaro.

"Well that's just," Miwa stared to protest only to have her phone going off, "Oh great, there goes my phone!" She pulled it out in anger, "Hello? Oh hello, this better be good! What, when did that happen? Why? No, no that can't happen! No, I," she paused and gave off a groan in frustration, "No I don't think that's a good idea. I can't come. Because I just adopted a new child remember? I want to be with her for some time! But, no, no, alright fine! I'll be there soon! But just so you know, I am not too happy about this!"

She hung up her phone looking like she was going to crush it in her hand.

"Trouble at work sweetie?" asked Rintaro.

"Yes!" said Miwa bitterly, "Apparently that show I arrange to take place in California as well is in complete chaos and they're saying they need now to help fix it!"

"You might want to step back," said Masaomi pulling his stepfather back a bit as they watch Miwa start to get mad. It looks like she was going to blow her top.

"All I wanted was some time to spend with my new daughter! But no, no I don't get to have that!" said Miwa.

"Sweetie," said Rintaro putting his arms around, "Calm down. I'm sure once this is all over we can come back and spend the time we were hoping to spend with Kimi we were hoping to, alright?"

"Yes you're right," said Miwa calming down a little. She turned and looked Masaomi, "I hate to do this, but can you take Kimi now instead of later like we originally planned?"

"Of course Mom," said Masamoi, "I don't see why, she is family now."

"Okay," said Miwa, "Let's go and tell Kimi then. I hope she's not too upset about all of this."

* * *

"Isn't your new room looking great?!" Wataru shouted. Kimi looked around the room filled with all sorts of toys and a cute little yellow bed with pony pattern sheets on it.

"Do you like it Kimi?" asked Ema.

"Yeah," said Kimi, although she wasn't too sure about having her own room. She was use to sharing a room with most of the girls. Would it be safe having a room all to herself?

"Don't you worry, if you get scared you can come to me!" said Wataru hugging her. Kimi was startled a little. However she was distracted by Wataru's hug by some weird hissing sound.

"And here I thought you were harmless!" She heard a tiny voice shout as a squirrel appeared on Wataru's head.

"Oh Juli," said Ema, "have you come to meet Kimi?"

"Oh yes Little Chi," said Juli jumping down off Wataru's head, "Greetings Little Chi, I'm Juli, your knight in shining armor." Kimi looked at Juli confused.

'Is he talking?' she thought, 'I thought squirrels couldn't talk.'

"Kimi," said Miwa walking into the room with Rintaro, "Can we talk to you for a minute?"

"Come on Wataru," said Ema, "I think they want to talk to her alone."

"Oh but I want to stay here with Little Sis," said Wataru.

"You can spend time with her later I'm sure," said Ema leading him out.

"Kimi, your father and I have some bad news," said Miwa, "We have to go back to work earlier then we were hoping."

"So?' asked Kimi.

"So you're going to have to stay here with your brothers now instead of getting to spend time with us like we were hoping," Rintaro explained.

"I'm going to have to stay here?" asked Kimi scared.

"It won't be so bad here," said Rintaro. I mean you've seen how nice your big brothers are and plus you'll get to stay here with your sister."

"When will you come back?" asked Kimi.

"We don't know," said Rintaro.

"But when we do, we promised we will make sure to spend time with you alright?" said Miwa, "So can we count on you to be a big girl and stay here with everyone?"

"Okay," said Kimi.

"Good," said Miwa hugging her, "We should go get going huh?"

"Yes," said Rintaro before also giving Kimi a hug, "Bye now Kimi, and take care. We'll miss you."

"Bye," said Kimi as her parents walked out. She looked around her room all alone.

"So I'm going to be left alone here huh?" she said out loud, "I hope it doesn't get too scary here with all those brothers, especially Wataru . He seems the scariest of all."


	4. Chapter 4

DISCALAIMER: I DO NOT WON BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi walked around some more, trying to really get to know the room a little. She looked in at the rather big doll house then turned her attention to little play farm. She picked up one of the toy cows and made it move around.

"Hmm, what do you think Beenjee?" she asked her toy. It was then she noticed the little table and chairs that were just her size. Next to it was a toy tea set still in its box. The picture of the set looked cute. Kimi did like playing with the play tea set back at the orphanage.

"Here Beenjee," she said putting him down in one of the chairs and picking up the box. However it was hard for her to open it at all.

'I wonder if it would be alright to ask one of my brothers or sister to open it for me,' she thought. She picked up the box as best she could and carried it out. As she came to the end of the hallway and towards the stairs she could hear her new mommy and daddy talking.

* * *

"We're really sorry to have to do this to you all," Rintaro said to the sons and Ema once he and Miwa had explained the situation to the rest of them.

"It's fine," said Ukyo, "It just means that Kimi has come to stay with us sooner than planned."

"Yay, Little Sister is staying here! Little Sister is staying here!" Wataru kept cheering.

"Well take good care of her I'm sure," said Ema.

"I'm counting on that," said Miwa.

"Would any of you be interested in helping us unload a bit of Kimi's things?" Rintaro asked.

"Sure," Ukyo and Masaomi both said at the same time.

"I want to help too! I want to help too!" Wataru insisted.

"There's not that much dear," said Miwa, "Why don't you just let your brothers help and maybe you can go see how your new sister is doing?"

"Oh, okay," said Wataru.

"I better go with him," said Ema running after him.

Both were surprised to see Kimi standing at the top.

"Oh hi Kimi!" said Wataru.

"How are you doing Kimi?" asked Ema. She noticed the box in Kimi's hands, "Were you hoping to play with that?"

"Won't open," said Kimi.

"Oh I see," said Ema taking the box, "Let's see, maybe if I were to pull at it here." She tried to pull at some of the packaging tape but it was really hard to peel off, "Or maybe not."

"I can do!" Wataru bragged as he tried getting the tape off the box. He put the box on the ground standing upright and struggled at getting the tape off as well. He kept trying and tying until he accidentally knocked the box down with a loud thud. The dishes could be heard smashing a little.

"What's all that noise?" Subaru asked walking up the stairs with his gym bag in his hand.

"We can't seem to get Kimi's new tea set open," said Ema.

"Hmm, here," said Subaru kneeling down and pulling out a small pair of scissors to cute the tape off.

"Thank you," said Kimi softly. She carefully grabbed her box as if she was afraid Subaru was going to strike at her if she moved too slow.

"Oh no fair!" said Wataru, "I wanted to be the big brother who helped Kimi get her box open!"

"Do you want to go play with your tea set Kimi?" Ema asked smiling. Kimi nodded.

"I want to play too! I want to play too!" Wataru insisted. Kimi didn't really like the idea of him playing if he was going to be yelling like that so much.

* * *

"So this is it?" asked Masaomi as he and Ukyo helped Rintaro pull out the few bags from the back of the car.

"Yeah, there wasn't that much," said Rintaro, "Kimi's lived at the orphanage for nearly all of life up until now."

"Really, she doesn't know anything about her real parents or anything from her old life?" asked Ukyo.

"No, not that we could find," said Miwa, "Oh that reminds me." She handed Ukyo some files, "this will help in completing the Kimi's enrollment into school."

"Thank you," said Ukyo, "this shouldn't be too hard to manage."

"You'll have to make sure to tell them you're her brothers not her father when you do," Rintaro joked.

"Oh don't worry we will," said Masaomi, "I guess Kimi could be young enough to be either one of our daughters huh?"

"No kidding!" said his mother, "Both of you. You're both fine men with fine careers and you're not getting any younger you know." Both brothers looked at each other.

"Miwa, don't pressure the boys," said Rintaro, "let's get going okay? I've check the flight schedule at the airport. If we get hurry I think we can make an early evening flight."

"Fine, let's get this over with," said Miwa, "The sooner we get it done with the sooner we can come home and be with Kimi like we wanted to. Bye boys, love you both."

"Bye Mom, Bye Dad" said both Masaomi and Ukyo as their parents got back into the car and drove off.

"Mom seemed to be a bit snippy with us about still being single huh?" Ukyo as he and his brother walked back inside with Kimi's things.

"You think she's trying to get a point across?" Masaomi asked.

"Oh probably," said Ukyo, "but I guess in a way she has a point."

"Oh don't go on like that," said Masaomi, "we're still young, there's still time. And in the meantime we have Kimi and even Wataru to dote upon right?"

"Sure," said Ukyo.

* * *

"Oh this is a nice tea set," said Ema as she and Kimi helped set it up on her table, "do you like it Kimi?" Kimi nodded with a smile before she finished putting the last piece of tea set on the table.

"All done," she said.

"Yay, tea party!" said Wataru grabbing a cup and pretending to drink.

"He should be more respectful and let Little Chi drink from her tea first!" said Juli.

"It's okay, he can drink from it first," said Kimi.

"Huh?" said Juli and Ema at Kimi's response. Wataru seemed too busy pretending to drink his tea to pay attention.

"Did she hear what it was you were saying?" Ema asked.

"I think she did," said Juli.

"Can Juli really talk?" asked Kimi .

"Well kind of," said Ema, "Only Louis and I can really hear what it he says, but I guess you can as well."

"Louis?" said Kimi pulling out her photo. She tried looking at the names to see if she could tell which one said Louis.

"Oh he's right here," said Ema pointing to one of the boys who to Kimi looked really beautiful.

"He's probably at work at the moment so you'll get to meet him later. I'm sure he's going to like your hair considering how golden it is. He really likes styling hair."

"Louis is great with hair!" said Wataru.

"So how's everything going in here?" Masaomi asked as he and Ukyo walking into the room with Kimi's things.

"We're having a tea party!" said Wataru with joy holding up his cup.

"Oh sounds like fun," said Ukyo as he started to unpack some of Kimi's things like her clothes and putting them away in her closet or draw.

"Do you like your tea set Kimi?" Masaomi asked as he also helped put some of Kimi's things away.

"It's pretty," said Kimi.

"I should hope so seeing as how your big sister helped pick it out," said Masaomi.

"You did?" asked Kimi.

"Yes, Miwa asked me to help pick out some toys for you," said Ema.

"I helped too!" said Wataru, "I picked out that toy farm for you! Do you like it Little Sis?" Kimi nodded looking back at her farm.

"I'm sure Kimi's going to have lots of time to look at the different toys and things in her room. She should just stick to enjoying her tea set for now," said Masaomi.

"Well I think that's everything for now," said Ukyo, "It's getting late. I should really get started on dinner."

"Do you want my help?" asked Ema.

"No I can do it on my own. You can stay here and play with Kimi for a bit longer if you want," said Ukyo.

"What are we having for diner?" asked Wataru, "Something special for Kimi?"

"Well, I was planning on making a special meal for when Kimi came to stay with us but that was going to be in a few weeks from now so unfortunately I don't have anything real special planned for dinner tonight. Sorry Kimi."

'It's okay," said Kimi. She didn't really understand what was going on but figured it wasn't her big brother Ukyo's fault.

"You are sweet," said Ukyo as he walked out.

"You three can stay here and play for a bit longer or maybe try showing Kimi around the house so can figure out where everything is so she doesn't get lost," suggested Masaomi.

"Would you like that Kimi? Would you like to se the whole house?" asked Ema, "We can show were the bathroom is and everything."

"Yeah and show her where my room is!" said Wataru, "I have lots and lots of toys in there too Little Sis! You should come and see!"

"Wataru, remember, don't overwhelm her okay?" said Masaomi.

"Oh okay," said Wataru.

"Come on Kimi," said Ema.

"Okay," said Kimi, making sure to grab Beenjee who was still sitting in his seat. She figured Beenjee could help make her feel safe especially being around Wataru.

"Who's your friend Kimi?" Ema asked.

"Beenjee," said Kimi.

"I have a big bunny in my room! Want to see?!" Wataru asked.

"How about we save that for last?" suggested Ema, "Come on Kimi."

Kimi eagerly fallowed after her.

She let Ema lead her along the different hallways and corridors showing her the different rooms and places this new homes of hers.

"This is my room," said Ema leading her another door, "It's not too far from your room either. So if you need anything, you can come to me okay?"

"Thank you," said Kimi. She did feel god that her big sister was going to be close to her.

"Oh what's going on here?" Kaname asked coming down the hallway.

"We're showing Kimi around the home," said Wataru.

"Oh, did you show her where my room is?" Kaname asked making sure to come to Kimi's level, "Just so you know, my door is always open for you little sister, just like it is for my other sweet little sister." He winked a Ema as he said that causing Juli to hiss at him.

"Curse you!" he snarled.

He jumped from Ema's shoulder and scratched at Kaname's face. "Don't think that just be I have two to protect now I'll my guard down and allow you to move in for a strike on Chi!"

"What's wrong Juli?" asked Kimi.

"I have to protect you and Chi from these wolves Little Chi!" said Juli, "They've all been trying to go after Chi since she moved in! I won't let them get her and I won't let them get you either little Chi!"

"Wolves?" said Kimi.

"Dinner's ready," said Masaomi called out, "You better hurry up before it gets cold."

"Come on Little Sister! You can sit next to me!" said Wataru.

"I want to sit next to my big sister," said Kimi.

"Huh?" said Wataru sounding upset that Kimi had said she waned to sit next to Ema instead of him.

"I'm sure we can each sit either side of you," said Ema, "How about that?"

"Okay," Kimi agreed. She made sure to hold onto Ema's hand tightly as everyone walked to the dining room where most of the other brothers were starting to gather. Kimi was caught off guard by someone lifting her up unexpectedly.

"Hello again little sister," said Tsubaki, "I was wondering what happened to you."

"Tsubaki, put her down," said Azusa.

"Oh why would I want to put down my sweet little sister?" asked Tsubaki.

"Here Kimi, we have a chair here with a booster seat for you," said Masaomi pulling a chair out for her. Tsubaki carried her over to the chair and put her down into it.

"There we go," he said. He was about to pull the chair next to her out when Wataru quickly jumped into it.

"I get to sit next to Little Sis!" he declared.

"Okay, fine," said Tsubaki moving over to a chair next to Azusa.

"Kimi," Masaomi said still standing next to her chair, "How are you liking your new home?"

"It's big," said Kimi.

"Yes but a big family requires a big home and as long as you're here Kimi you're a part of this family okay?" Masaomi assured her with a kind smile. Kimi looked around at her big brothers who were all looking at her, most with smiles on their face as well. It was starting to feel kind of nice having a big family like this. Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all. She just had to get use to it, especially Wataru and his really over exciting attitude.


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"So Kimi, did you like your meal?" asked Ukyo once the meal was done and most of her brothers were starting to help clear the table.

"It was good," said Kimi with a polite smile. However she soon gave off a little yawn.

"I think it's someone's bed time," said Masomi with a smile, "Do you want some help getting ready for bed?"

"I'll help her!" Wataru quickly offered. Kimi however leaned over towards Ema, resting her head against Ema's chest.

"I want Big Sister's help," she said.

"Oh," Wataru moaned.

"It's probably best for Ema to help Kimi get ready for bed anyway Wataru," said Azusa.

"Okay," Wataru allowed, though he didn't sound too happy about it.

"Come on Kimi," said Ema picking Kimi up and carrying her towards the stairs.

"Oh and Ema," Masomi called out, "When you're done with putting Kimi to bed can you come back to the family room for a family meeting in regards to Kimi since she's staying with us earlier then expected?"

"Uh sure," said Ema as she continued taking Kimi up to her room.

"Night Little Sister," called out Tsubaki.

"I hope you have a sweet dream," said Kaname.

* * *

"Okay, put your arms up," Ema instructed as she helped put Kimi's night-shirt, "Does that fit okay?

"Yeah," said Kimi looking down at new pajamas. They had lots of different color flowers on it, real pretty. She actually rather liked it.

"They look cute on you. I think Miwa picked them out personally," said Ema, "Now should we go get your teeth brushed?"

"Okay," said Kimi.

As Ema and Kimi came walking down to the bahtroom they sound Subaru coming out of it.

"Oh hi," he said, "I thought you were putting her to bed."

"Oh she had to brush her teeth first," said Ema.

"Oh," said Subaru. Kimi quickly walked past him to the sink She tried to reach up to get her tooth brush but it seemed just out of her reach. Suddenly she was lifted up to the counter and sat down by Subaru.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," said Kimi. She looked down nervous as she brushed her teeth and managed to spit into the sink without making a mess.

"Good job Kimi," said Ema. She help lift the little girl back down, "now we can get to bed? Say good night to Subaru."

"Good night," said Kimi.

"Night Kimi," said Subaru calmly as he watched Ema take her away.

"Well sweet dreams now Kimi," said Ema, "I just know you're going to be happy here like I was when I came to live here and still am."

"Good night Big Sister," said Kimi before shutting her eyes and falling asleep.

"Oh she is so cute," said Ema, "I'm so glad she's here now. I should really get back to family room for that meeting Masomi was talking about."

She tiptoed out of Kimi's room as quietly as she could and just shut the door when she realized Subaru was also standing there.

"Subaru, did you need something?" asked Ema.

"Just wanted to see if she got to sleep okay I guess," said Subaru.

"Oh yes she's out already sound asleep," said Ema as the two walked back to the family room together.

"Do you think she's scared of me or something, with way she's acting?" asked Subaru.

"Oh I think she's just nervous being around all us at the moment. This is all new to her after all," said Ema, "I'm sure it's nothing personal.

"Hmm," muttered Subaru.

* * *

"Oh Ema, did Kimi get to sleep okay?" Masaomi asked once Ema and Subaru had returned to the family room were the other brothers were all waiting.

"Oh yes she's sound asleep," said Ema.

"Did she brush her teeth before?" asked Masomi.

"Yeah we made sure," said Subaru.

"We?" said Tsubaki.

"I had just gotten done going to the bathroom when they happen to be coming my way," said Subaru as he sat down.

"Okay, we'll we have to discuss who's going to be looking after Kimi tomorrow since we haven't gotten a chance to enroll her in school yet and we weren't planning on having her so soon. We're also going to have to discuss now who can help take her to and pick her up from school along with Wataru."

"But I can go to school by myself just fine," said Wataru.

"I know but I'd feel better if one of older siblings was there to help escort Kimi," said Masomi, "I know I can speak for myself when I say that I can either take them to or pick them up from school if I'm not on call at the hospital."

"Same here if I'm not really needed at the office," said Ukyo.

"I'm sure if need be Yusuke and I can at least make it over to Wataru's school and pick him and Kimi up," said Ema, "Right Yusuke?"

"Huh?" said Yusuke, "Yeah, sure."

"Okay, well why don't we put it down for now that Ukyo or myself take the two to school while Ema and Yusuke be in charged with getting them home?" said Masomi.

"Sure," said Ema.

"Sure," Yusuke agreed.

"Now then we also have to least make sure there's someone here tomorrow at least to watch Kimi," said Masomi.

"I can probably watch her in the morning and get the enrollment paperwork done so she can start school as soon as possible," said Ukyo, "However I may have to go into the office later that afternoon."

"Tsubaki and I won't be working in the afternoon. I'm sure one of us can watch her then," said Azusa.

"Of course we," said Tsubaki, "Why wouldn't we want to help look after our little sister?"

"Okay good, we'll see if we need someone to look after her the next day too, but for now it looks like we're in good shape as far as Kimi's concern," said Masomi, "Thank you everyone. Remember we all have to work together to make sure Kimi feels like this is her real home, sort of like when Ema first came."

"Oh yes and who could forget how well we did making her feel at home," said Tsubaki once again putting his arm around Ema and pulling her close.

"Hey, Tsubaki!" Yusuke shouted. Azusa merely reached over and punched Tsubaki's head again.

"Ah!" Tsubaki moaned.

"I should really get to bed myself," said Ema quickly as she hurried back up the stairs.

* * *

When Kimi woke up the next morning, it took her a moment to remember she wasn't at her orphanage anymore but instead at her new home.

"Yusuke, were you going to have breakfast before we left?" she heard her big sister calling out from the other side of the door.

"Uh yeah I was coming," she heard one of her brothers saying.

Kimi quickly got out of her bed and headed to the door to open it. There she saw her Ema standing near her own room waiting for Yusuke.

"Oh good morning Kimi," said Ema when she saw the little girl standing at her door.

"Oh hey," said Yusuke.

"Did you sleep well Kimi?" asked Ema. Kimi merely nodded.

"Do you want to have breakfast with me and Yusuke before we go to school?"

"Sure," said Kimi nodding her head with a smile.

* * *

"Oh Kimi, good morning," said Ukyo when Kimi and her two older siblings all made it downstairs. Wataru was also there eathing his breakfast.

"Little Sister good morning!" he cheered.

"Wataru try not to yell so much," said Ukyo as he set three more plates of food for the others, "Here Kimi." He pulled out the chair with her booster seat in it and helped put her in it.

"Thank you," said Kimi as she started eating her food. She noticed her two brothers and sister seemed to be eating faster than her and were soon done.

"Come on let's get going," said Yusuke standing up and hurrying to the door.

"Okay I'm coming," said Ema, "Bye Kimi, Bye Wataru, bye Ukyo, have a nice day."

"Bye," said Ukyo, "Wataru you better hurry up too."

"Okay," said Wataru, "I still with I could walk Kimi to school like a big boy."

"When you're both older you can," Ukyo promised, "Have a good day at school."

"I will!" said Wataru, "Bye little sister. I'll see you after school!"

"Bye," said Kimi softly. She heard a clink and realized Ukyo was starting to help gather up some of the dirty dishes. Back at the orphanage each child had to clean up their own messes. She didn't think it was fair Ukyo was doing all the work himself.

"I help?" she offered.

"You want to help clear the table?" asked Ukyo, "Are you done?" Kimi nodded.

"Well okay you can help clear the table," said Ukyo picking her up from the table. He handed Kimi a few of the dirty dishes and walked with her to the kitchen where Kimi managed to gently put the dishes up on the counter.

"You are a very good helper Kimi," said Ukyo.

"Thank you very much." Kimi smiled proudly.

"Would you like to help me some more and get me a clean towel from that draw over there" Ukyo asked pointing to the draw he was talking about. Kimi nodded and pulled the draw open where she saw all sorts of different looking towels. She grabbed the ones with strawberries on it and handed it to her brother.

"Thank you," said Ukyo.

"More help?" Kimi asked.

"No I can do the rest by myself," said Ukyo, "why don't you go ahead and get dressed?"

"Okay," said Kimi.

"Oh Ukyo, you have a little helper it looks like," said a different voice, one Kimi wasn't sure she recognized. She turned her head and saw the brother she only knew as Louis was now in the kitchen as well.

"Oh Louis, you're home," said Ukyo sounding surprised to see his brother, "Welcome back."

"Thank you," said Louis walking closer to Kimi and kneeling closer to her level, "I take it you're our new little sister Kimi?"

"Yes," was all Kimi would reply.

"Mom and Dad got called back to work sooner than expected so she's staying with us earlier then we were planning," Ukyo explained.

"Oh I see," said Louis, "Well I'm glad you're here." He reached out and ran his hand through Kimi's hair, "you hair is so pretty. I like girls with pretty hair. You must let me stylish."

"Um okay," said Kimi.

"After she gets dressed," said Ukyo.

"Of course," said Louis, "Let's go get that done first." He offered Kimi his hand and Kimi decided to take it.

As Louis and Kimi came up the stairs they could hear Juli shouting in a panic tone.

"Little Chi!" he shouted as he came running down the hallway, "Little Chi where are you?!"

"Oh is that what we're calling her now Juli?" Louis asked.

Juli stopped running when he saw her with the little girl.

"Oh Louis, you're home finally," he said, "And I see you've meet Little Chi."

"Yes," said Louis, "I am loving her hair. Its got to be one of the godliest colors I've ever seen. I can't wait to style it. but first Little Chi has to go change."

"Right Little Chi, you need to get into some real clothes," said Juli, "Come on let's go."

"Coming Juli," said Kimi deciding not to argue with the squirrel.

"Oh you can understand Juli too Little Chi?" asked Louis.

"Uh-huh," said Kimi.

"Oh that's nice," said Louis, "I bet he's already offered to make sure to look after you like he does Chi huh?"

"Of course I did," said Juli, "a girl can't be too careful in a place like this."

"Indeed," said Louis, "So Little Chi, why don't you go get dressed? Then I can finally style your hair."

* * *

Kimi went to her room and managed to put on one of her new outfits. It was a blue jumper with a yellow shirt.

"Little Chi are you almost done?" asked Louis from the other side of her door.

"I'm coming," said Kimi walking opening the door.

"Oh don't you look cute,"said Louis, "Now we just have to get your hair just right."

He took her with him to the bathroom and started brushing her hair. Afterwards she could feel him pulling at it ever so slightly and moving it around a bit until Louis finally held up a mirror.

"Well what do you think?" he asked.

Kimi looked in to see her hair up in pigtails with at least one strand in a braid in the middle.

"I like it!" she said, "Thank you!"

"I'm glad you like it," said Louis, "I am so happy I now have two lovely sisters for whom I can style pretty hair for."


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi was still looking at herself in a mirror when she noticed Louis giving off a yawn.

"Sorry Little Chi, but I have to go take a nap," said Louis, "You'll be okay by yourself?"

"Uh yes," said Kimi. She was startled by something coming onto her shoulder.

"Don't worry Little Chi, I'm here for you, just like I was when Chi was your age," said Juli.

"Okay," said Kimi walking out of the bathroom and walked down the stairs and looked around. It was really empty and lonely. Back at the orphanage she'd be able to have friends to play with.

"Oh Kimi it looks like Louis did a great job with your hair," said Ukyo walking past her. In his hand he held a bunch of paper work, "I have to get this paper work done so we can get you into school. Why don't you go off and play with some of your new toys?"

"With who?" asked Kimi.

"Hmm?" asked Ukyo.

"Who do I play with?" asked Kimi.

"Well can you play by yourself for now?" asked Ukyo.

"All alone?" asked Kimi.

"Would that be so bad?" asked Ukyo.

"Don't worry Little Chi, you have me," said Juli.

"Okay," said Kimi heading back upstairs.

"Hmm I guess she's use to having other children to play with," said Ukyo, "Well once she starts school I'm sure she'll be able to make many new friends."

* * *

When Kimi got to her room she looked around at her other toys trying to decide what she could play with. She eventually walked over to her table and pretend to pour some tea again.

"Juli would you like some tea?" she asked holing up the cup for him.

"Hmm, I'd love some!" said Juli taking the cup and pretending to drink.

'This brings me back to when Chi was Little Chi's age and we'd have tea parties,' he thought. However he stopped playing when he realized. Kimi was sitting down frowning.

"I miss my friends at the orphanage. I want to be back there playing with them all right now. I don't want to be alone," said Kimi. Juli put his little hand on hers.

"It'll be okay," he assured the little girl, "When Chi was growing up she was often alone. That's where I came in. I would spend much of my time playing with her and keep her from being too lonely. And that's what I'm going to do for you now Little Chi."

"Okay," said Kimi with a small smile. She suppose Juli was better than nothing.

"I know, lets see what's so special about this doll house Chi picked out for you," said Juli jumping over to it.

"Okay," said Kimi opening it up. Juli leaped into the house and walked among the different doll furniture and items. Some of here just about his size.

"Hmm, I could get use to living in a place like this," he said taking a seat. He looked so cute that Kimi couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

"Hmm?" said Juli startled by Kimi's giggle.

"You're cute Juli. I like you," she said.

"Oh Little Chi," said Juli. He kept moving around the big doll house as Kimi watched giggling at nearly everything he did like it was the cutest thing she had ever seen.

* * *

"Kimi, lunch time," said Ukyo walking into her room later that day. He found her siting in front of her dollhouse giggling. She seemed to have a really cute giggle.

"What are we looking at?" he asked walking over the doll house himself. There he saw Juli moving around and exploring the doll house himself.

"Juli's funny," said Kimi in between giggles.

"Yes he has his moments," said Ukyo, "Then again he can also become extremly violent at times."

"I only do that when you wolves have to be punished!" Juli shouted hissing. Ukyo backed away a bit afraid.

"Okay well why don't we go eat our lunch before it gets cold," he said carefully gripping Kimi's hand and leading her out of the room.

"So did you have fun playing by yourself for most of the morning?" asked Ukyo as he and Kimi ate.

"Yeah Juli was fun to play with," said Kimi.

"That's good," said Ukyo, "sorry I couldn't play with you, I had lots of work to do. Maybe after lunch you can play outside a bit. I know we have a few balls and outdoor toys you can play with. Let me see if I can fish some out for you after lunch?"

Kimi seemed to like that idea and started eating a lot faster so she could see these so called outside toys.

* * *

After lunch and helping Ukyo clear the table the two walked out into the massive courtyard where Ukyo opened a big door.

"Oh good we do have many of the toys still here," he said. He tossed a small ball out to Kimi.

"Let's see what else we have in here. Oh there's this." He pulled out a child size basketball hoop and set it up. "I think Subaru use to play with this when he was little, but it looks like it's still in good shape. Is there anything else in here?" He was distracted by the sound of something bouncing and realized Kimi was already bouncing the ball he had tossed her earlier with much joy. He watched her run around with the ball for a little bit. It was rather adorable to see her playing happily.

'I guess I can see why Mom and Dad felt the need to bring her into our lives,' he thought. Just then he looked at his watch and realized he needed to get going if he was still going to make it to both Kimi's school to drop off the enrolment papers and still get to the office in time.

"Kimi I need to go inside," he called out.

"Okay," Kimi called back as she kept chasing her ball around.

'I hope either Azusa or Tsubaki are back by now. If not I wonder if I can wake up Louis to help keep an eye on her,' he thought.

"Hey Ukyo, we're back," he suddenly heard Tsubaki call out.

"Oh good just in time," said Ukyo, "I really have to get going. I have lots to do."

"Where's Kimi?" asked Azusa.

"Outside playing," said Ukyo pointing behind him.

"How has she ben doing all day?" asked Azusa.

"Fine as far as I can tell though I think she's been feeling lonely not having any other children to play with," said Ukyo, "I'll be back later this evening. If I'm not back in time there is food in the fridge for Ema to cook if I don't make it back in time. She knows what to do."

"Ah a lovely home cook meal by our other wonderful sister," said Tsubaki, "What more can a man ask for? Maybe a kiss from that sister?"

"I'd be careful if I were you talking like that. Juli's been acting more aggressive than usual since Kimi came to stay with us," Ukyo warned as he finally managed to gather up what he needed and headed out.

"Hmm I take it that little squirrel has decided he's going to protect Kimi as well," said Azusa.

"I swear that little rodent is so annoying!" said Tsubaki, "Honestly why does it get so offensive when one of so much just walks next to her."

"Because I'm no fool! I know what you're really up too!" Juli shouted landing on Tsubai's head.

Of course all they could hear was his usual squawks and hisses.

"Ah, where does he ever come from?!" said Tsubaki as he tried to get Juli off of him.

"Hold still," said Azusa as he tried to help his brother get Juli off.

* * *

"Come back here!" Kimi shouted happily as she chased after ball after bouncing it really high and letting it bounce away from her. It came to rest near a flower bed filled with all sorts of lovely white flowers.

"Oh pretty," she said looking the flowers over. She reached down and picked one, sniffing at it.

"Real pretty," she said.

"Excuse me young lady," she suddenly heard a deep and powerful voice say behind her. She turned and saw an orange haired man had entered the about him looked familiar but she wasn't sure from where. The man walked right up to her with a serious look on his face.

"This isn't a public garden where you can simply pick any flower you want," he said.

"Uh," said Kimi backing away in fear.

"How did you even get in here?" asked the man, "Who are you anyway?"

"Kimi, are you still out here?" Kimi suddenly heard Azusa ask. She looked and saw him and Tsubaki walking outside and for some reason Azusa was holding Juli by his bow.

"Kimi?" said the other man.

"Oh there's a Natsume here," said Tsubaki in mocking tone.

"Natsume?" said Kimi. Did this mean her brothers knew this man? Juli meanwhile managed to wiggle out of Azusa's grip and run over to Kimi's shoulder.

"Little Chi are you okay? This wolf didn't try anything with you did he?" Juli asked.

"Uh no," said Kmi.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" asked Natsume walking over to the other two annoyed.

"Oh you mean you don't know? This is our new little sister Kimi," said Tsubaki.

"Oh?" said Natsume turning to look back Kimi, "Why is she here already though?"

"You mean you don't know?" asked Azusa, "I could have sworn Tsubaki said he was going to...," He paused in mid-sentence, "You didn't did you?"

"The mere fact he offered should have been your first clue," said Natsume.

"Oh come on, you make it sound like I'm a bad person or someone who only enjoys playing pranks on others," said Tsubaki.

"Gee I wonder why," said Natsume, "So what happened?"

"Basically Miwa and her husband got called in early back to work so she was simply left here earlier then planned," said Azusa.

"Oh," said Nastsume turning back to look at Kimi.

"Kimi this is Natsume, one of your other brothers," said Azusa.

"He may not look it but he's actually our triplet brother," said Tsubaki putting his arm around him.

"Oh?" said Kimi.

"Do you know what a triplet is Kimi?" asked Azusa.

"It's when there's three brothers born at the same time," said Natsume, "Sorry about snapping at you. I didn't realize you were my new sister."

"Its okay," said Kimi.

"However you still probably shouldn't have picked a flower like that," said Natsume.

"Oh she picked a flower?" asked Azusa finally noticing the flower in Kimi's hand, "Yes Natsume would be right Kimi Your big brother Iori works hard on these flowers gardens and he probably wouldn't like it too much if people just took a flower from it whenever they felt like it."

"Oh come on you two," said Tsubaki, "I don't see what the big deal is. I pick them all the time." As if to prove his point he plucked one from the garden himself. "Here Little Kimi." He handed Kimi the flower.

"Thank you," said Kimi. Juli however stated hissing at him.

"We know you usually pick them without permission and Iori's usually upset with you when you do," said Azusa walking over to Kimi himself and kneeling to her level, "Next time Kimi just ask Iori if you can have one of the flowers and I'm sure he'll be able to pick one for you okay?"

Kimi nodded and softly said, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, just next time try to remember that okay?" said Azusa, "So with that said, why don't we go put your flowers into water?"

"Okay," said Kimi giving him a small smile and walking back into the house with her three brothers.

"I can't stay long," said Natsume, "I only came to drop this off." He held up an envelope.

"Oh another game for her?" asked Tsubaki, "She'll like that."

"Hmm?" said Kimi wanting to know what the two of them were talking about.

"Oh I make video games," said Natsume, "and since our other sister likes them I bring some over for her from time to time." He handed her the envelope, "Can I ask you to give this to your big sister? I doubt your big brother here would do it without some sort of joke."

"Yes," Kimi promised.

"Oh you worry too much Natsume," said Tsubaki.

"Here we go Kimi," said Azusa as he presented Kimi with her two flowers in a vase, "Would you like to put these in your room for now?" Kimi nodded her head happily.

"I should go," said Natsume. He reached over and patted Kimi's head, "It was nice meeting you Kimi. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon."

"Bye," said Kimi waving to the man as he walked out. She fallowed Azusa and Tsubaki back to her room where Azusa put the vase on Kimi's little table.

"There now what should we do with our little sister for the time being?" asked Tsubaki looking around Kimi's room.

"You won't do anything to Little Chi if I can help it!" said Juli.

"Oh what do we have here?" said Tsubaki picking up a little cow from Kimi's toy farm.

_"Well I don't feel too interested in giving milk today. How about milk shake instead?" _He said in playful tone making it sound like the cow was talking. He sounded so funny that Kimi started to laugh again.

Both her brothers were surprised to see her laughing like that. It sounded rather adorable.

'Hmm I can see what it what Mom and her husband saw in this girl' thought Azusa.

'She is really cute in her own way,' thought Tsubaki.


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"I hope Kimi did well today," said Ema as she and Yusuke walked home.

"Hmm, I'm sure she was fine," said Yusuke.

"Yusuke, are you okay I volunteered you to pick her up from school? I guess I shouldn't have tried to speak for both of us," said Ema timidly.

"Uh," said Yusuke slightly startled by Ema's comment, "It's fine really. It's not that big of a deal."

"Okay," said Eam smiling. Yusuke had to turn away so Ema didn't see him blush.

"Big Sister hi!" the two heard Wataru calling out as they came near the condo.

"Oh hi Wataru, how was school?" asked Ema walking in with her little brother.

"School was great!" said Wataru, "But I'm really want to see Little Sister! I bet she missed me!"

"We're home," called out Ema as she and her brothers walked in. There wasn't an answer, "Hello?"

"Where's little sister?" asked Wataru.

"Oh maybe she's in her room," said Ema heading to the stairs followed by Wataru. She came to Kimi's room and knocked at it before entering.

"Kimi, are you in here?" she asked.

_"Oh I think I'll lay an omelet," _ she heard Tsubaki say as she and Wataru came in. They saw him standing in front of Kimi's bed where she and Azusa sat holding a toy chicken pretending to make it talk. Kimi was giggling hard at Tsubaki's actions.

"Do more!" she insisted clapping her hands.

"Hi, we're back!" Wataru spoke up getting everyone's attention.

"Oh hello welcome home," said Azusa.

"Hi Kimi, how was your day?" asked Ema walking over to the little girl.

"It was fun," said Kimi. She held up the envelope Natsme had given her earlier, "This is for you."

"Oh is this from Natsume?" said Ema, "Did you get to meet him Kimi? Did you like him?"

"Hmm," said Kimi shrugging her shoulders. She wasn't sure what to make of this newest brother. He seemed kind of mean and strict but at least he seems to care.

"He may not it at fist but he's a nice guy, you'll see," Ema assured her.

"Meanwhile you have yourself an actual nice brother," Tsubaki boasted.

"Anyway," Azusa, "Ukyo might be running late tonight so he asked us to ask you if you could try cooking dinner tonight Ema. Is that alright?"

"Oh sure," said Ema, "I'll go see to it right now."

"Do you want some help?" asked Azusa.

"I don't think so. If I do I'll let you know okay?" said Ema.

"I help?" Kimi offered.

"If you really want to you then yes," said Ema with a kind smile and letting Kimi taking her hand.

"Oh Little Sister, don't you want to play with me instead?" asked Wataru.

"Uh well," said Kimi.

"It's still nice outside you should go and play outside," said Azusa, "Ukyo did find a bunch of old toys outside for Kimi earlier I think."

"Yay!" cheered Wataru, "Let's go outside and play little sister! Come on, Come on!" Kimi saw Wataru looked really desperate to play with her. So she nodded, picking up Beenjee and followed after him downstairs and outside.

"Well it's good to see them playing together," said Azusa.

* * *

"So what should we play with first Little Sister?" asked Wataru looking around.

Kimi put Beenjee down hear the tree and picked up the ball she had been playing with earlier.

"Oh good idea!" said Wataru grabbing the ball, "Watch I can bounce it really high!" He slammed the ball down and both watched it fly into the air. "Yay, I can send the ball the highest!"

"I try?" asked Kimi running after the ball. She tried to bounce it herself only it didn't seem to get too high.

"Oh too bad Little Sister," said Wataru, "I try again!" He bounced the ball again made it go sailing. "Look I bet it can hit a cloud." Kimi was starting to get a sense of rivalry with her big brother and wanted to see if she could hit a cloud with the ball.

"I'll do it!" she insisted grabbing the ball, "I'll make it really go high!" She tried bouncing it really high but it didn't get as high as Wataru's bounces had.

"Don't worry Little Sister, someday you'll be able to get the ball as high as I do!' said Wataru as he bounced the ball again, "Look how high it's going this time! However the ball kept sailing towards the gate right as Subaru walked in.

"Whoa!" he shouted as he caught the ball.

"Oh sorry Subaru!" Wataru called out.

"It's fine," said Subaru as he walked over to him and Kimi with the ball, "What are you two up to?"

"We're seeing who can bounce the ball the highest!" said Wataru excited.

"I'm not doing so well," said Kimi softly.

"Well sometimes you just got to keep practicing at it," said Subaru. He looked past his little brother and sister and saw his old basketball hoop set up, "Who got that out?"

"Ukyo," said Kimi.

"Hmm," said Subaru as he threw the ball and managed to make a basket with it, "I use to practice with that thing all the time." Kimi was surprised to see he had made that basket like that. She ran over to the ball and tried to throw the ball into the basket. she cheered when she made it.

"I did it I did it!" she said happily.

"Good job," said Subaru before heading inside. He could immediately smell something good coming from the kitchen where he saw Ema busy at work cooking dinner.

"Oh Subaru welcome home," she said when she saw him smiling.

"Hey," he said nodding at her.

"Dinner's still being prepared if you want to change or anything like that," said Ema.

"Sure," said Subaru heading to the stairs.

"Were Wataru and Kimi still outside when you came home?" asked Ema.

"Oh yeah, they were still there playing," Subaru assured her.

"Come on Kimi let me try!" said Wataru as he grabbed the ball and tried making a basket, "Ha I knew I was good at it! Did you see that? Did you see how well I did?"

"Yeah," said Kimi as she herself tried again. The two kept playing for a little while until they heard someone calling their names.

"Wataru, Kimi come inside please," called out Azusa, "Dinner's ready."

"Coming," said Wataru, "I get to sit next to Little Sister again!"

"Okay then," said Azusa as the two little children came bounding in.

The siblings had just started to eat dinner when another brother joined them.

"Hello everyone," said Masaomi, "Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay, we're just getting started," said Ema. Masaomi moved over to Kimi's chair.

"How was your day little Kimi?" he asked.

"Good," said Kimi.

"I'm glad to hear that. I have some exciting news for you. I got a call from big brother Ukyo and he told me all of the paperwork is done for your school so you'll be able to go tomorrow."

"I'll get to go to school?" asked Kimi, "Will there be more kids my age there?"

"Oh yes, lots," said Masaomi. Kimi's eyes lit up with happiness. She was going to a place where there were more kids her age. That meant she'd have a new chance to make new friends.

"I even made sure to stop at the store and get you a new backpack," said Masaomi holding up a small backpack with ponies on it. Kimi beamed.

"Thank you!" she said.

"Of course, anything to help my little sister start her new day at school right," said Masaomi.

"Can I bring Beenjee with me too?" asked Kimi.

"What the hell is a Beenjee?" asked Yusuke.

"My toy," said Kimi.

"Why don't we ask your teacher tomorrow if we can bring him to school or not alright?" suggested Masaomi. Kimi nodded. Then a thought accrued to her.

"Where is Beenjee?" she asked looking around. She brought him with her when she went to play with Wataru right?

"Oh no, Beenjee is missing?!" said Wataru looking around franticly, "Don't worry I'll find him!"Azusa however put his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure he's here somewhere. Why don't you try looking for him after dinner?" he suggested.

"Oh okay," said Wataru.

"I think he's outside," said Kimi, "I put him by the big tree."

"See there you go. He'll be safe until after dinner," said Tsubaki.

"Okay," said Kimi returning to her meal.

"Hi," said Iori walking into the kitchen.

"Welcome home," said Ema.

"Thank you," said Iori, "did someone take some flowers from one of the beds?"

"Kimi did," said Azusa.

"Oh that's alright then," said Iori moving over and patting Kimi's head, "Next time ask me for a flower okay Kimi?" Kimi nodded.

"Don't worry Azusa already scolded her for it," said Tsubaki.

"I did not scold her," said Azusa.

"Oh by the way does anyone know what this is?" Iori asked holding something up in his hand, "I found it by the tree outside."

"Beenjee!" said Kimi reaching for it.

"Oh this is yours?" asked Iori. He handed it to Kimi who hugged her toy tight.

"Thank you for finding him!" she said as she kept hugging her toy.

"Of course," said Iori patting her head. Wataru moaned sad. He was hoping to be the one that found Kimi's toy.

"What the heck is that thing?" asked Yusuke.

"Beenjee," said Kimi still holding her toy, "He's my best friend. Guess what Beenjee, we're going to school tomorrow! Isn't that great?!"

"You sound really excited about this Kimi," said Ema. Kimi nodded still smiling.

* * *

The next day Kimi woke up extra early and dressed quickly. She raced down stairs with her backpack eager to get going to school.

"Ah Kimi, I see you're up already," said Ukyo when she made it to the kitchen. He was still in the middle of fixing breakfast.

"Let's go, let's go! We got to get to school!" said Kimi eagerly.

"We still have some time before school starts Kimi. Why don't you have some breakfast first," said Ukyo putting some of the food on the table.

"Oh," Kimi moaned. She really wanted to get going and meet the children at her school. She heard some more moaning and turn to see Louis sitting up from the couch. He looked over and smiled at Kimi.

"You look ready for school Little Chi," he said ,"Except your hair. We should do something with your hair so you look your best for your first day.

"Just make it quick," said Ukyo.

"Don't worry I will," said Louis.

* * *

"Good morning," said Ema as she came downstairs.

"Morning, breakfast is ready," said Ukyo.

"Is anyone else up yet?" asked Ema.

"Kimi is, she's real anxious to go to school," said Ukyo, "Louis is off doing her hair."

"Oh good morning Chi," said Louis leading Kimi back to the kitchen.

"Good morning Louis," said Ema, "And you too Kimi..," She paused when she saw Kimi's hair was up just like ho she usually did it.

"What do you think Chi? Doesn't she just look like her older sister?" asked Louis.

"I guess she does in a way," said Ema.

"Yes, she looks just as cute as Ema. Not that she didn't look cute on her own before having her hair done like that," said Ukyo.

"Good morning," said Wataru as he walked into the kitchen yawing a bit and rubbing his eyes. Then he noticed Kimi's hair.

"Oh Little Sister looks so much like Big Sister now! How cute!" he said.

"Morning," said Yusuke walking in. He glanced over and looked at Kimi's hair, "why did she do her hair like yours?" he asked Ema.

"A lot of sister do their hair the same. What's wrong with that?" asked Louis.

"Nothing I guess," said Yusuke as he started eating his breakfast.

"As soon as Kimi and Wataru are done I'll be taking her to school," said Ukyo.

"Oh why can't I take her to school by myself?" asked Wataru.

"It's Kimi's first day so I'm going to have to speak with her teacher. Besides remember what Masaomi said. He'd rather have someone older taking Kimi to school and briniging her home," said Ukyo, "That reminds me. Yusuke, Ema are you two going to be able to pick them up?"

"Of course," said Ema.

"Sure," said Yusuke.

"Thank you, I do appreciate all of that," said Ukyo.

* * *

"I still don't see why I can't take Kimi to and from school," Wataru muttered sulking in the car as Ukyo drove him and Kimi to school.

"Well maybe after a while Masaomi and I will let you. But for now we're going to have the older ones take care of it okay?" said Ukyo.

"Okay," said Wataru. He looked over at Kimi who was looking out the window from her car booster seat eagerly looking for her new school. She could feel her heard racing as they finally pulled up to the building. Outside lots of other children were talking or playing together. It made her feel happy with the idea that she'd be happy here.

"Let's go Kimi," said Ukyo helping her out of the car, "Wataru have a good day at school okay?"

"Okay," said Wataru, "I'll see you later little Sister. If you need help just come find me!"

"Thank you Wataru," said Kimi taking Ukyo's hand and following him inside the school. He led down a long hallway to a room that had lots of different drawings in the windows.

"Hello," said Ukyo opening the door and walking in with Kimi.

"Oh hello," said the teacher, a young pretty and kind looking woman, "This must be my new student Kimi Asahina, welcome. I'm your new teacher Miss Akemi Hogo."

"Hi," said Kimi smiling at the pretty lady.

"And you must her father right?" Miss Hogo asked Ukyo.

"Oh no, I'm actually her big brother Ukyo Asahina," said Ukyo quickly, blushing slightly.

"Oh sorry," said Miss Hogo.

"It's okay," said Ukyo, "I hope you'll take good care of my little sister."

"Of course I will. I take good care of all of my students," said Miss Hogo.

"Thank you," said Ukyo. He turned to look at Kimi. "Have a good day alright? And make sure you listen to your teacher." Kimi nodded feeling really good.

She looked out into the classroom where all the students were playing. They all looked happy and friendly. Something inside of her told her she as going to like it here.


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"Boys and girls I'd like you all to meet our newest classmate Kimi Asahina," said Miss Hogo as she and Kimi stood at the front of the classroom in front of all the children where all sat in a circle, "Can we all say hello to her?"

"Hello," said the other children all smiling. They all looked a lot like the children back at the orphanage.

"Kimi would you like to tell us a bit about yourself? Like do you have a mommy , daddy or any brothers or sisters?" asked Miss Hogo.

"I just got a new mommy and daddy. They took me away from my old home at the orphanage to live them. But they had to go back to work so now I'm living with my brothers and sister," said Kimi.

"And how many brothers and sisters do you have now Kimi?" asked Miss Hogo.

"I have one sister and 13 brothers," said Kimi.

"Oh my," said the teacher looking a bit surprised at hearing that Kimi had 13 brothers, "Well that's really nice to know. Why don't you go ahead and take a seat in the circle with the other children. She spent the rest of the day happily participating with the different activities with the other children like singing, playing different learning games or doing different art projects. She enjoyed it so much. In a way it helped reminded her of her orphanage when she and the other children would all do things activities. Plus the children all seemed really nice and friendly, just like her friends back at the orphanage.

Kimi was having such a good time that time seemed to just pass by and before long it was time for lunch.

"'If you kids want you can eat outside today since it's so nice out," said Miss Hogo as the children all gathered up their lunches and headed outside. Kimi lingered back just a little not sure where she should consider to eat. As she came outside most of her classmates had all broken off into their own little groups eating together. Suddenly Kimi was starting to feel a bit scared and intimidated.

However her fears were soon put to rest when she heard a small voice calling out her name.

"Kimi, Kimi over here!" Kimi looked over and saw a group of girls all sitting on or around a small stone wall with lots of different chalk drawings on it. One of the girls was waving at her to come over to the group. Kimi calmly walked over to the group. All the girls smiled at her kindly.

"Want to eat with us?" asked the girl who had waved at her.

"Sure," said Kimi taking a seat on the wall.

"My name is Mura," said the girl.

"Hi," said Kimi.

"These are all my friends Harumi, Jaja, Dai and Ohan," said Mura. All the girls also smiled kindly at Kimi.

"Do you really have 13 brothers?" asked Dai.

"Yeah," said Kimi.

"Are any of them cute?" asked Jaja.

"Uh well I guess," said Kimi. She hadn't really thought of it like that.

"Was the man who brought you today a brother or your daddy?" asked Ohan.

"One of my brothers," said Kimi.

"Are any of your brothers your age?" asked Harumi.

"Well one goes to this school," said Kimi.

"Little Sister!" she suddenly heard Wataru call out. Kimi and the other girls all turned to see Wataru running over to her fast with a big smile on his face.

"I was hoping I'd get to see you so we can have lunch together!" he said, "Come I know where there's a nice spot to sit and eat!"

"Uh well," said Kimi looking at the girls she was already sitting with. She'd rather sit with them.

"It's okay Kimi you can go and sit with your brother," said Mura.

"Come on little sister!" Wataru kept insisting. He even grabbed Kimi's hand and tugged at it.

"Okay," said Kimi not sounding too thrilled of the notion, but Wataru didn't seem to notice. He walked with Kimi with a happy look on his face as they walked over to a spot under a tree and started to eat their lunches.

"Mmm," said Wataru eating, "Ukyo-Bro makes good lunches huh?"

"Uh yeah," said Kimi as she ate her lunch too. It was good but she was having a hard time enjoying it. She looked over to the group of girls who had been nice enough to ask her to join them. They looked like they were having fun together. She really wished Wataru had let her just eat with them instead.

"Little Sister, is something wrong?" asked Wataru. Kimi wondered if she should mention to Wataru that she wanted to sit and eat with the kids in her class rather than him but she also didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"No I'm fine," she said as she kept on eating.

Soon the two were done with their meal.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom Little Sister," said Wataru, "I'll be right back."

"Okay," said Kimi. She wondered if it would be alright to walk back over where the most of her other class mates were. She started slowly walking over to the group.

"Hi Kimi," said Maru, "Where's your brother?"

"He's in the bathroom," said Kimi, "Do you want to play?"

"Sure!" said the girls. Kimi could feel her spirits lifting when suddenly she felt something hit her head.

She looked down and noticed it was a ball.

"Oh Kimi are you okay?" asked Maru.

"Yeah," said Kimi rubbing her head.

"Kimi. Kimi, I'm sorry," said a boy running over to her, "Are you hurt?"

"No I'm fine," Kimi assured him.

"Do you want to play with us?" asked the boy picking up the ball and motioning to his own group of friends.

"Sure," said Kimi. The other girls seemed to like the idea.

"My name's Edi," said the boy as Kimi and the other girls all followed him over to his friends.

"Hey!" Wataru shouted suddenly running over to the small children, "Who threw a ball at my little sister?!" The children all looked scared at his shouting.

"Wataru," Kimi tried to speak up.

"Let's get something straight no one's going to hurt my sister and get away with it! As her big brother it's my job to protect her from any harm! So you all should just leave her alone!" Wataru kept saying totally ignoring Kimi.

"I'm sorry," said Edi.

"Maybe you shouldn't play with us Kimi. We wouldn't want to get your brother mad," said Maru sadly as she and other boys and girls all moved away from Kimi and started to play at a different part of the playground.

"Oh," moaned Kimi. She looked over at Wataru who was looking proud of himself.

"Don't you worry Kimi, your big brother is here to protect you!" he said.

"I don't want to be protected by you! You scared away all my new friends!" said Kimi mad.

"Huh?" said Wataru.

"They were being nice to me but you scared them away! Now they don't want to play with me! You were really mean!" said Kimi.

"But I was just trying to protect you like a big brother," said Wataru.

"Well I don't like it when you do that," said Kimi right as the ball rang. Kimi ran away back to her class room to avoid being near Wataru anymore.

For the rest of the day Kimi noticed that a lot of the children were all trying to avoid her even though they looked like they didn't want to. It was if they were still scared Wataru would show up and scare them away from her. Why had he come and ruin everything for her like that?

After school as all the children ran out of the class room Kimi walked out slowly.

"Kimi," said Miss Hogo, "Did you have a good first day of school?"

"Yeah," said Kimi giving her teacher a small smile.

"Okay I'll you tomorrow okay?" said Miss Hogo smiling back.

When Kimi got outside she could hear Wataru's voice calling for her.

"Little Sister over here!" he called out standing by a tree. Kimi walked over still frowning.

'"Are you still mad at me?" asked Wataru when he saw her frowning face.

"Oh Kimi, I only did it because I cared," Wataru insisted.

"Hmm," said Kimi sitting on the stone structure that surrounded the tree. She did her best to avoid looking at Wataru. Wataru frown and sat down as well on the opposite side of Kimi.

"Hi Kimi and Wataru," said Ema as she Yusuke suddenly appeared walking up to them. Both stopped in their tracks when they happened to see Wataru and Kimi's sad faces."Something wrong?"

"What happened?" asked Yusuke looking at Wataru.

"All I did was try defending Kimi when someone hit her with a ball.

"Someone hit you with a ball Kimi?" asked Ema in alarm.

"It was an accident. He didn't mean to and he said sorry. But Wataru scared them all away anyway!" said Kimi mad, "And I really wanted to play with them!"

"Did you really?" said Yusuke.

"I was only looking our for Kimi!" said Wataru.

"Oh jeez, let's just go," said Yusuke.

"Come on Kimi let's go home for now," said Ema gently taking Kimi's hand.

Kimi took it and walked off with her with Yusuke and Wataru walking behind them.

No one said much as they walked home. Both Wataru and Kimi kept looking down upset about what had happened at school. Ema tried hard to think of something to ease the tension.

"So Kimi, how do you like your new school?" she asked at last.

"It's nice and my teacher is nice and all the other boys and girls were all nice. It reminds me of the orphanage a little," said Kimi.

"Oh well I'm sure you'll have a good day tomorrow when you go back," said Ema.

"Yeah," said Kimi. She really did hope the other children would be willing to want to be around her tomorrow and play with her.

"Welcome home," said Kaname the minute they all walked into the house. He walked right up to Kimi and knelt in front of her. "I hope you had a good day at school little sister."

"No," was all Kimi would say before walking off.

"Hmm?" said Kaname looking over to the three for an answer.

"Wataru may have gotten a little over excited about his role as a big brother," Yusuke explained, "He scared all the kids in Kimi's class after one hit her with a ball by mistake."

"I was just trying to protect her!" said Wataru.

"And I'm sure you're were doing a good job but sometimes you should just let your little sister handle some things on her own," said Kaname patting his little brother's head, "Just like we do with our other little sister." He winked at Ema as he said that.

"You don't need to protect Chi, because I protect her from you!" Juli shouted suddenly jumping and landing on Ema's shoulder and hurrying over to scratch Kaname's face.

"Ah!" Kaname shouted, "Somehow he always gets me!"

Kimi walked slowly to her room sad. She really hoped that somehow someway her classmates would be willing to play with her again tomorrow and not have Wataru scare them all away.

"My, my what do we have here? A sad little girl? That shouldn't be,"

"Huh?" said Kimi looking around to see who had said that. It was then she finally noticed a woman standing in the hallway with her. Or at least she thought she was a woman. Didn't one of her brothers like to play dress up?

"Please tell me is your name Kimi?" asked the so-called lady.

"Uh yes," said Kimi. she was startled by the woman coming up to her and hugging her.

"I am very happy to meet you little sister Kimi," she said or he," I happen to be your new big brother Hikaru."

"Hmm?" Kimi said.

'So this is the brother who likes to play dress up?' she thought. It looked like her day was about to get more interesting.


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"...and then all the kids didn't want to play with me," Kimi told Hikaru as she sat with him in her room. She held Beenjee in her arms as she told him what happened at school that day.

"My, my," said Hikaru with a smirk "So Wataru tried acting like a big protective brother did? It's kind of sweet."

"Not when it makes other not want to play with me," said Kimi sadly.

"Oh are you feeling lonely Kimi?" asked Hikaru tapping her nose.

"A little," Kimi admitted, "Back at the orphanage I had lots of friends to play with my age. Now all I have is older brothers and an older sister. They're either too busy to play with me or they're too loud and scare away people who do."

"Like Wataru did?" said Hikaru, "Well family can sometimes be busy but at least you know they'll always love you and will do what they can do for you when they can. And as for Wataru well family is also known for making mistakes with other family but they should also know how to make up when the time's right."

"You mean I should go apologized to Wataru?" asked Kimi.

"Well not right away but it would be a good idea to forgive him since he only did what he did out of love," said Hikaru, "And it would make him feel good knowing you still care."

"Okay," said Kimi feeling a little better. She manage to give her newest brother a smile.

"That's better, I like that," said Hikaru.

"Kimi, are you in here?" asked Ema walking into the room, "Oh Hikaru I didn't realize you were here."

"Just arrived and I found a sad little girl. I couldn't let that be," said Hikaru.

"Oh Kimi, are you feeling better than?" asked Ema walking over to her little sister.

"A little," said Kimi.

"I'm sure Wataru didn't mean anything bad by what he did today," Ema assured her. Kimi nodded in understanding. "Oh Hikaru would you like to stay for dinner?"

"I would love for a chance to dine with my new little sister," said Hikaru.

"I'll go let Ukyo know then," said Ema, "And Kimi when you're ready you better go wash up."

"Right," said Kimi hurrying out to the bathroom to wash up still holding Beenjee. She tired reaching the sink but was once again too short for it. However she didn't have to worry about it too much when she felt herself being lifted up. She turned her head and saw it was Subaru.

"Here, better?" he asked.

"Yes," said Kimi timidly before she started washing her hands, "thank you."

"Sure," said Subaru like it was nothing, "I wonder if we have any kind of old step-stool or something. I'm sure Kyo can help with it." He put her back down, "You okay? You look sad."

"I had a bad day of school because of Wataru. He tried protecting me and scared everyone in my class," said Kimi.

"Oh bummer," said Subaru, "Well don't be too mad at him. He was only doing to because he wants to be a good big brother."

"That's what Hikaru said," said Kimi.

"Hikaru's here?" asked Subaru, "great."

"Hmm?" said Kimi not sure if she understood why Subaru didn't sound too thrilled over his brother being here. Maybe other siblings did sometimes have a hard time dealing with each other.

"I wish you'd give us more of a warning of when you're coming home or not," said Ukyo as he served up dinner.

"And not catch you at your best? Why would I give up that?" asked Hikaru.

"You never change do you?" said Masaomi, "So Kimi how was your first day at school?"

Kimi cast a glance over at Wataru who once again was sitting next to her.

"It was fun," she said, "all the kids were really nice! I can't wait to make friends."

"That's good to know," said Masaomi, "I was hoping you'd do fine with it. I'm sure you'll make lots of friends in time."

"Assuming Wataru doesn't screw it up," muttered Yusuke.

"What was that?" asked Masaomi.

"Nothing," said Hikaru slapping Yusuke on the head in a playful fashion, "You know Yusuke, always having to be going off like a delinquent."

"Hmm, well nothing new there," said Masaomi. Yusuke groaned sneering at Hikaru while rubbing his head.

"Thank you very much for your help Kimi," said Ukyo after dinner as Kimi did her best to help put some of the dirty dishes on the counter. Kimi smiled proudly.

"More help?" she offered.

"No I can do the rest on my own. Why don't you go play for a bit?" suggested Ukyo.

"Okay," said Kimi. She went over and grabbed Beenjee and headed outside. She put her toy down near the tree and managed to find the ball she liked playing with and started bouncing it around. She was actually starting to feel better as she bounced it around and chased it around the courtyard.

"I'm going to bonce it really nigh now Beenjee, watch!" Kimi shouted as she bounced the ball again. She watched it fly high in the ground and start come down, right as a new person came into the courtyard, near where the ball was about to land.

"Uh-oh!" said Kimi.

"What the?!" said the boy as the ball nearly hit him, "Who did that?!" He looked around until he saw Kimi standing looking scared, "Did you do throw the ball at me?!"

"Uh, I didn't mean to," said Kimi timidly.

"This ball could have given me a bruise my face and as a pop star I can't afford to have a bruised face!" the boy complained, "Who are you anyway?"

"Ki, Kimi," said the little girl timidly.

"Kimi?" said the boy, "Wasn't that the name of the girl Miwa said she was adopting? Don't tell me you're her."

"Uh," said Kimi not sure what to say.

"You sound just as dumb as the last girl she had come live here," the boy continued to go on, "I bet you don't eve know who I am." Kimi shook her head no. "Seriously, how dumb are you? I happen to the famous pop star Futo and your big brother."

"Futo?" said Kimi. She wasn't sure if she remembered that brother mentioned or not.

"You are dumb," said Futo snidely. It was then he cast a glance over at the tree and saw Beenjee sitting near it. "What's this?" he walked over and picked the toy up.

"Bennjee," said Kimi running over to the boy and her toy. She tried to take Beenjee back but Futo kept it just out of her reach.

"What a dumb looking toy," he said looking it over.

"Can I have him back?" asked Kimi. Futo looked down at her and an evil smile slowly crossed his face.

"What, you can't try sharing with your big brother?" he asked as he dangled the toy over her head.

"Please can I have him back?" asked Kimi.

"What is this thing suppose to be anyway?" asked Futo.

"Beenjee's an elephant," said Kimi still trying to get it back.

"An elephant? You can hardly tell," said Futo.

"Please give Beenjee back," Kimi pleaded still trying to get her favorite toy back.

"Sure," said Futo at last, "Here catch." He tossed the toy high up in the air, "Oops."

Beenjee sailed up and landed up in the tree. Kimi looked up alarm where she saw Beenjee stuck up in some of the branches so high up she couldn't get to it. She tried jumping to get him but it was no use.

"Something wrong?" asked Futo smugly.

"I, I can't reach Beenjee!" said Kimi.

"Oh dear looks like he'll be stuck up there forever," said Futo.

'Forever?' Kimi thought. She didn't want Beenjee to be stuck up there forever. The idea upset her so much she started to cry.

"Oh brother, don't be like that," said Futo sounding annoyed.

"Hey, what's going on out here?!" the two heard Yusuke heard as he came storming out. He paused when he noticed Futo was standing out there with Kimi. "Great first Hikaru and torming out. He paused when he noticed Futo was standing out there with Kimi. "Great first Hikaru and now the stupid pop star!"

"Stupid?" said Futo, "Oh that's original coming from you."

"Whatever," said Yusuke getting annoyed, "Why is she crying?" He pointed to Kimi who was still standing and crying next to the tree.

"Huh, I don't know," said Futo casually glancing over at Kimi.

"Beenjee!" said Kimi pointing up.

"Huh?" said Yusuke walking over to the tree and looks up to where he saw the toy stuck, "How did that end up there?" Kimi just pointed over to Futo, too upset to talk clearly. "What did you do?!" Yusuke demanded to know.

"It was an accident," said the pop star, "It's not like I tossed it up on purpose."

"Yeah I bet!" said Yusuke. He looked back at Kimi who was still crying, "Hey, hey stop crying. I'll get him back down."

Kimi stopped crying after hearing that. She looked up as Yusuke stared to ascend the tree.

"You're not actually going to climb that thing are you?" asked Futo as he too watched.

"Shut up!" Yusuke called down as he continued to climb. He soon reached the same height as Beenjee but he was still just out of his reach. He tried reaching out to grab at it but just couldn't reach. "Almost got it!" He tried calling down. It looked like the toy was just about shaken free.

"Kimi, are you still out here?" he suddenly heard Ema calling out. It startled him too much that he lost his balance and not only did the toy fall out of the tree but he himself started to fall.

Kimi watched from the ground as she saw her toy first land next to her.

"Beenjee!" she said happily picking up her toy. However she was soon pulled back by someone as Yusuke came landing down on the ground hard.

"Ah!" he shouted in pain.

"Yusuke!" said Ema when she saw Yusuke fall.

"Yusuke?" said Kimi in alarm.

"Don't worry you're safe," said Futo, "I made sure to get you out-of-the-way in time."

"Yusuke are you okay?!" Ema shouted running over to him.

"Ah my back!" said Yusuke holding it.

"Can you move?" asked Ema.

"It's hurts a lot!" said Yusuke.

"We should get you inside!" said Ema. She looked up and saw Futo was standing nearby with Kimi, "Futo, you're back."

"Of course, I came to meet my little sister," said Futo with his arms on his Kimi's shoulders.

"Huh?" said Kimi. A while ago it didn't seem like he was thrilled with the idea of meeting her.

"Well can you help me get Yusuke up and into the house?" asked Ema.

"I don't know, it might be hard on my frail body as a pop star and all," said Futo.

"This is all your fault to begin with!" said Yusuke as he tried to get up only to moan in pain.

"I'll be right back with help!" said Ema hurrying back into the house.

"Yusuke?" said Kimi timidly walking over to boy. He had his eyes closed in agony. "I'm sorry," she said softly. She felt it was her fault seeing as how he had only climbed the tree to get her toy for her.

"Huh?" Yusuke asked opening one eye.

"Yusuke!" said Masaomi as he came running out with Ema, "How bad is your back?"

"Ah it feels bad," Yusuke moaned.

"Come let's get you inside," said Masaomi as he helped get Yusuke to stand with one of his arms looped over his shoulder. Ema did the same, looping Yusuke's arm over her shoulder as well. Yusuke's face started to turn red as the touch.

"It's probably not serious," Masaomi assured his brother as he and Ema helped lead him into the house.

Kimi watched totally shocked that poor Yusuke had gotten hurt.

"Well hopefully it'll teach him a lesson," said Futo, "Next time get a ladder."

"Is it my fault Yusuke got hurt?" asked Kimi.

"Well I suppose in a way, it was your toy that got stuck in the tree," said Futo, "Maybe next time you should be more careful with your toys less you get someone hurt."

"Oh," Kimi moaned feeling even worse that Yusuke got hurt.


	10. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"Well Yusuke, the good news is you're going to be fine. There's no permanent damage," Masaomi assured his brother as Yusuke laid on his stomach in his room. Yusuke just groaned.

"You'll probably just have to take it easy for a day or so," Masaomi kept telling him.

"Hmm," Yusuke moaned only to suddenly let out a cry of surprise and pain as something cold came down on his back, "What is that?!"

"It's just an ice pack calm down," said Masaomi, "It'll help."

"Ah, it's cold!" said Yusuke.

"Well yeah" said Masaomi, "so what were you doing up in that tree in the first place?"

"I was getting the kid's stupid toy down out of it," said Yusuke.

"You mean Kimi and Beenjee?" asked Masaomi.

"Yeah, Futo tossed it up as joke, I'm sure. Anyway she wouldn't stop crying so what else was I suppose to do?" asked Yusuke.

"Get the ladder out of storage," said Masaomi.

"Uh?" said Yusuke as the thought came to him. He groaned and buried his face into his pillow. He could hear Masaomi give off a chuckle.

"I'm sure Kimi appreciate what you did. You did a good thing for her," he said.

"Hmm," said Yusuke.

* * *

Kimi held Beenjee tight in her arms in the family room wondering if Yusuke was alright. She was feeling really bad still about him getting him hurt in an effort to rescue Beenjee from the tree.

"Kimi, are you okay?" Ema asked.

"Is Yusuke going to be okay?" Kimi asked.

"Oh he'll be fine," said Azusa, "It'll take a lot more than a fall from a tree to keep him down."

"Really?" said Kimi.

"Of course," said Kaname, "But if you want maybe you, me and our other sister could offer up a sweet prayer to him." He turned and winked at Ema, "Right Little sister?"

"Uh sure," said Ema, "If it'll help Yusuke and Kimi feel better."

"I think it's kind of funny the idea of Yusuke falling like a fool out of a tree," said Tsubaki. He started laughing that the thought. "I wish I had had a chance to see it!"

Just then everyone saw Masaomi coming into the room.

"Good news, Yusuke is going to be just fine. He'll just need a day to recover," he said.

"He's okay?" said Kimi eagerly.

"Yes Kimi, don't you worry okay?" said Masaomi patting her head.

"I still don't get why he was even in the tree in the first place," said Ukyo.

"Oh he told me, he was saving Kimi's toy from one its branches when it got stuck," said Masaomi.

"And he didn't get a ladder because?" asked Azusa.

"Well this is Yusuke we're talking about," said Hikaru, "He usually acts first, and thinks later."

"Either way, like I said he's going to be just fine," said Masaomi.

"I'm sorry he got hurt," said Kimi.

"Oh don't be like that. You didn't do anything wrong," said Msaomi, "I'm sure if put in the position again he'd rescue Beenjee like he did in a heartbeat."

"Really?" said Kimi.

"Well hopefully he'll be smarter and get the ladder next time," said Hikaru.

"Kimi, would you like to possibly take some ice cream up to Yusuke's room for him?" Ukyo said holding up a small bowl, "I'm sure it'll make him feel better."

"Sure!" said Kimi eager to help Yusuke in any way she could.

"Be careful with it now," said Ukyo handing her the bowl.

"I will!" Kimi promised as she walked up the stairs slowly so as not to spill the bowl and head down to Yusuke's room.

"She's so cute and sweet," said Ema.

"Oh that reminds me," said Masaomi, "I have some medical cream that might help with Yusuke's back. It's in the east bathroom."

"I'll get it," Ema offered.

"Huh?" said some of the other brothers.

"Well I think I startled Yusuke when I came outside looking for Kimi and that also made him fall. I figure I owe it to him," said Ema.

"Go right ahead then," said Masaomi.

* * *

Kimi knocked softly on Yusuke's door before poking her head in. There Yusuke laid in his bed on his stomach muttering something.

"Damn that pop star! Damn him! This is all his fault!" He stopped his muttering when he happened to hear the door creaking just a little. He turned his head and saw Kimi standing at the door. "Oh hey," he said, "What are you doing here?"

"Ice cream?" Kimi said holding walking further into the room holding the bowl.

"Ice cream?" said Yusuke, "You brought me ice cream?" Kimi nodded and carried the bowl over to him. "Oh thanks, and chocolate huh? My favorite." He took the bowl and managed to eat some. He glanced over at Kimi who was giving him a small smile.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yeah, this makes me feel better," said Yusuke.

"Are you mad at me?" asked Kimi.

"Huh?" said Yusuke, "Why would I be mad at you?"

"You got hurt rescuing Beenjee for me," said Kimi.

"It's not your fault," said Yusuke, "It's that damn, that darn pop star's fault! He's the one that threw the toy up."

"Why did do that?" asked Kimi.

"Because he's a jerk," said Yusuke.

"Why?" asked Kimi.

"Well," Yusuke tried to think of the best way to explain it to a four-year old, "He's famous so he thinks he's better than most people and can get away with a lot of things."

"That doesn't sound nice," said Kimi.

"Yeah well that's just how some people are, even family," said Yusuke.

"You're nice," said Kimi.

"Huh?" said Yusuke surprised to hear such a thing. No one had ever really said that to him. He gave Kimi a smile for that.

"Thanks," he said.

"Hi," said Ema walking into the room, "How are you feeling Yusuke?"

"Uh okay," said Yusuke turning a bit red at Ema's presence in his room, "What, what are you doing in here?"

"I brought some medical lotion that Masaomi said should help with your back," said Ema.

"You what?" said Yusuke not sure he liked the idea of where this was going.

"Here hold still for a moment," said Ema lifting up Yusuke's shirt. Next thing Yusuke knew he felt something cold and smoothing being applied to his back.

'She's touching my back!' he thought, "Oh my god she is rubbing my back!'

"Yusuke are you okay? Your face is so red!" said Kimi noticing Yusuke's face was now the same color as his hair.

"Yusuke are you alright?" asked Ema hearing Kimi's comment.

"No, I'm fine!" Yusuke insisted though his voice sounded really high-pitched.

"Should I stop?" asked Ema.

"No, go ahead and keep going," said Yusuke.

"Okay then," said Ema as she kept applying the lotion.

"Is that really something appropriate to be doing in front of a four-year old?"

"Huh?" said Ema, Kimi and Yusuke as they all looked to the door again to see Futo standing there.

"You!" snarled Yusuke.

"Honestly, what kind of things are you exposing this poor little girl to?" asked Futo, "I worry for her."

"If I could get up, I'd be so kicking your ass right now!" said Yusuke.

"You use that kind of language around a little girl?" said Futo.

"I was just applying some medical lotion to help Yusuke's back," Ema tried to explain.

"Hmm in either case I don't think my precious little sister should be seeing such a vulgar display," said Futo.

"Nothing like that is going on!" Yusuke insisted.

"Uh maybe Kimi should step out for a moment while I finish with your back. She needs to get ready for bed anyway," said Ema.

"Whatever," said Yusuke.

"Go ahead, go get ready for bed Kimi," Ema told her.

"Okay," said Kimi. She moved over to Yusuke real fast and surprised him along with Ema and Futo by kissing his cheek.

"Good night Yusuke," she said, "Thank you for saving Beenjee."

"Yeah, any time kid," said Yusuke.

Kimi smiled and hurried out of the room.

"Hmm," Futo muttered as Kimi run past him. He followed after Kimi until she came to her room.

"This is your room?" he asked.

"Huh?" said Kimi stopping at the door.

"I can't believe they were dumb enough to give you this room," said Futo.

"Why can't I have this room?" asked Kimi.

"Well you but I don't think it'd be smart," said Futo.

"Why?" asked Kimi.

"That's where the monster lives of course," said Futo.

"Monster?" said Kimi.

"Yeah and his favorite treat is little children. He usually waits a while to make sure they don't suspect him coming and then he attacks. He waits until it's the dark of night when all you see is a big a shadow on the wall before, _Whoosh_, he gobbles you up!" said Futo. Kimi gasped in fear. It was then that Futo started to laugh.

"I can't believe you fell for that. Honestly you are a dumb kid," he said.

"What?" said Kimi.

"There's no monster," said Futo, "Jeez only stupid people believe in monsters." He walked off scared. Kimi however looked at her door in fear. What if there really was a monster in there? What if he really was going to come out and get her?

"Kimi," said Masaomi walking up to her, "You need to get ready for bed."

"Do I have to?" Kimi asked scared.

"Well it's late and you have school tomorrow don't forget," said Masaomi.

"But," said Kimi stammered, "But it's dark in there and...,"

"Oh you're afraid of the dark Kimi?" said Masaomi, "Well don't worry. I can help with that."

He hurried off.

* * *

As Masaomi came back towards Kimi's room, he saw Ema coming out of Yusuke's room.

"Did the lotion help at all?" he asked.

"Oh yes, I think he's doing just fine," said Ema. Then she noticed the object in Masaomi's hand, "Uh why do you have a flashlight?"

"It's for Kimi for tonight. It's the best I could come up with at the last minute. Apparently she's afraid of the dark. I'm sure I can find her an actual night-light or go buy her one tomorrow," Masaomi explained.

"Oh poor Kimi," said Ema.

"Yeah but I'm sure this will help," said Masaomi heading back to Kimi's room.

Ema nodded and headed to her room.

"Chi, there you are. Where have you been?" Juli asked from the bed.

"I was helping to take care of Yusuke. He got himself hurt," said Ema.

"I swear, how dumb could he be climbing a tree like that?" asked Juli.

"He only did it to help Kimi. He toy got stuck in a tree somehow," said Ema, "Speaking of which I hope she does okay tonight."

"Hmm?" said Juli, "Something wrong with Little Chi?"

"Apparently she's scared of the dark. Masaomi had to get her a flashlight for the night to help her feel better," said Ema.

"Hmm," said Juli, "Maybe I should go and check on her later."

* * *

"..and if it gets too dark for, just turn on the flashlight and you'll be fine," Masaomi said calmly as he helped Kimi get ready for bed. He made sure to put the flashlight next to Kimi's bed on her nightstand, "Does that make you feel better?"

"I guess," said Kimi.

"Don't worry tomorrow I'll make sure to get you a nightlight of some kind. That'll make it easier to keep the room no so dark," Masaomi promised. Kimi nodded.

"Where's Beenjee?"

"Oh, I don't know, now that you mention it," said Masaomi.

"Is someone missing something important?" asked Ukyo suddenly walking into the room with Beenjee in his hands.

"Beenjee," said Kimi happily.

"You left him down stairs when you came to give Yusuke his ice cream," said Ukyo handing Kimi her precious toy, "Did he like it?" Kimi nodded her head, "Good thank you for bringing it to him for me." Ukyo patted Kimi's head.

"Well good night Kimi," said Masaomi, "Remember if it gets too dark just use the flash light okay?"

"Right," said Kimi looking at the flashlight. She hoped it would help keep the monster away, if there was one.

'He did say he was joking right? So there should be no monster for real righ?' she thought to herself, 'Right?'

* * *

"What's with the flashlight?" Ukyo asked as he and Masaomi walked down the hallway. They happen to pass by Ema's room as they walked where Juli could hear what it was they were saying.

"Apparently Kimi's afraid of the dark," said Masaomi.

"Really, she didn't seem to have a problem the past two days since she got here," said Ukyo.

"Maybe we did, we just didn't notice," said Masaomi.

"Hmm," Juli said to himself, "It sounds like Little Chi does need me more then Chi does tonight, Oh Chi?"

"Uh yes Juli?" said Ema getting ready for bed herself.

"I'm going to check on Little Chi. You make sure to keep your guard up tonight. I can't very well be in two places at once," said Juli before heading out.

"Sure Juli," said Ema. Hopefully Juli could make Kimi feel better.

* * *

'Its not real, it's not true. He said he was joking,' Kimi kept thinking as she laid her bed looking around the dark room. Did the room always get this dark? She couldn't remember.

'There's no monster, there's no monster,' she kept thinking. Suddenly she heard a noise coming from her door.

"Huh?!" she sad sitting up, "Who's there?!" She grabbed the flashlight and pointed it to her door.

* * *

Juli did his best to keep quiet in case Kimi was still asleep so as not to wake her. However as he tried moving towards the bed he was startled by a bright light suddenly shining at him out of nowhere.

"Ah!" he said in surprise throwing his arms up in the air.

* * *

Kimi gasped as she saw a scary shadow suddenly appearing on her wall.

"The monster!" she shouted at the top of her lungs before letting out a huge scream.


	11. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi screamed at the top of her lungs as quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the door. As she ran she felt her foot hit something furry. That made her scream even louder fearing that the monster was trying to grab her.

"No!" she cried kicking the furry thing away. She yanked open the door and ran out of the room still screaming.

* * *

Poor Juli could feel his head spinning after being kicked by Kimi's foot.

"Ah," he moaned as he laid on the floor trying to recover from kick and hard landing.

* * *

Kimi kept screaming as she ran down the hallway. She was almost too afraid to look behind her as she ran to put some distance between her and her room with and the monster.

* * *

"_You don't think he's still here do you?" _Azusa read from a script.

"_He could very well be. Be on guard," _Tsubaki read back, "You don't think that sounds too corny do you?"

"Nah it's not too bad," said Azusa, "Let's see after that a loud scream is heard." As soon as he said that a scream started to fill the room.

"Was that you?" Tsubaki asked.

"No," said Azusa right as they heard the scream continue as something came running past them fast and behind the couch.

"What the?" said Azusa as both he and Tsubaki looked behind the couch where they saw Kimi kneeling behind it. Her hands were over her arms were draped over her head in a protective manner while she shivered and cried.

"Kimi?" said Tsubaki.

"What's wrong?" asked Azusa.

"Monster," they heard the little girl whisper, "Monster in my room!"

"Monster?" said Tsubaki, "Was Futo in her room or something?"

"Tsubaki, Azusa," the two suddenly heard Masaomi shout out as he appeared at the top of the stairs, "I heard screaming. Do you know who it was?"

"Kimi," said Azusa walking behind the couch. He managed to gently pick Kimi and up and carry her out. The little girl clung to him still shivering and crying

"What happened?" said Masaomi.

"Something about a monster," said Azusa.

"What's going on? What's with all the screaming?" Ema called out suddenly appearing next to Masaomi.

"Is something wrong? Did something happen to Little sister?!" Wataru also shouted as he appeared.

"What's with all the yelling?" asked Kaname, "You're making even the gods restless." Soon all the brothers in the house appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Kimi thinks she saw a monster in her room," said Azusa as he carried the little girl up the stairs.

"There was!" said Kimi, "I saw it, I saw it shadow just like Futo said!"

"Futo?" said Masamoi turning and looking at the pop star who was standing at the back of the group.

"It was a joke and I told her that," said Futo.

"But I saw it! It was big with claws and everything! When I tried to run away it grabbed my foot!" Kimi insisted.

"Okay, let's go back to the room and investigate," said Masaomi.

"But what if the monster's still there?!" said Kimi.

"Don't worry," said Tsubaki cracking his knuckles, "Any monster tries anything I'll take him on."

"It'll be alright Kimi I promise," said Masaomi as he along with the bulk of the brothers all followed back to Kimi's room. Azusa could feel Kimi gripping his shirt tighter.

"You'll safe Kimi," he told her as they neared her room. Masaomi flicked on the lights.

"I don't see anything," he said.

"I'll check under the bed," Subaru offered.

"I'll check the closet," said Ukyo.

"Now where did you see the monster Kimi?" asked Azusa.

"Right here near the door," said Kimi pointing, "That's where his shadow was."

"Do you hear a moaning of some kind?" asked Ema.

"Juli!" Wataru shouted pointing to the squirrel laying on the floor.

"Juli!" said Ema moving over to her friend, "Juli, are you okay?!"

Juli moaned and opened his eyes.

"Where's Little Chi?" he managed to get out.

"She's fine, she just had a little scare," said Ema.

"Juli?" said Kimi alarmed, "Did the monster get him?!"

"I don't think it was a monster," said Ema.

"Someone kicked me!" said Juli.

"Kicked you?" said Kimi, "Did I kick you or something?"

"I think you might have," said Ema.

"Do you think Kimi shined the light on Juli and mistook him for the so called monster?" asked Masaomi.

"It's possible," said Ema.

"Juli was the monster?" asked Kimi.

"I think when you shined the flashlight on him it cast a shadow that looked liked a monster and he was probably the furry thing you felt on your foot as you were trying to run out," Masaomi explained.

"He was?" said Kimi loosening her grip on Azusa's shirt, "I didn't hurt him did I?"

Juli went and leaped onto Kimi's shoulder.

"Don't worry Little Chi, it takes a lot more to take me down! And if a monster is in here, I'll take him down!" he said. Kimi giggled.

"Thank you Juli," she said, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Well good news, there's nothing in the closet," said Ukyo.

"Or under the bed," said Subaru.

"See Kimi, there's no monster in here," said Azusa.

"Futo was just pulling a prank," said Tsubaki.

"And even if there is, you won't have to worry about it Little Sister," said Kaname holding up a charm, "This charm will make sure no evil can enter this room. And I'll make sure to offer up a prayer to keep them away."

"Thank you Kaname," said Kimi.

"Okay, you ready to go back to sleep Kimi?" asked Masaomi.

"I guess," said Kimi as she let Azusa put her back down. She looked around the room nervous.

"Kimi, I promise there's no monster here," said Masaomi, "And even if there was your brothers and sister will protect you from it okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi as she climbed into bed.

"Good, good night Kimi," said Masaomi, "Come on everyone let's let her be and get back to bed ourselves." The brothers all filed out.

"Good night Kimi," said Ema as she was about to follow after the brothers along with Juli.

"Uh Big Sister?" said Kimi.

"Hmm?" said Ema turning back to look at her.

"Can you sleep with me tonight?" asked Kimi sheepishly. Ema felt touched by being asked that. She never had a chance to sleep with a sibling.

"Sure," she said walking back to the bed and climbing in with her. Kimi wrapped her arms around her.

"Thank you Big Sister," she said.

"Of course," said Ema.

"Oh Chi, Little Chi" cooed Juli watching from the side table.

"Ema are you coming?" Masaomi said walking back into the room where he happened to see the two girls in bed together.

"Kimi asked me to stay with her tonight," said Ema softly.

"Oh that's good," said Masaomi, "Good night you two." He turned off the lights and shut the door quietly.

* * *

The next morning Ema woke up first and saw Kimi was still sound asleep. She looked peaceful enough.

'I hope she managed to have a nice dream,' She thought as she got out of the bed. As she did Kimi opened her eyes.

"Good morning Kimi, how are you feeling?" asked Ema.

"Good," said Kimi, "Thank you for sleeping with me."

"Of course," said Ema, "That's what sisters are for right?"

"You're a good sister!" said Kimi as she jumped out of bed and hugged her.

"Oh I think you're a good sister too," said Ema.

"Is everyone getting up?" asked Masaomi as he walked into the room.

"Oh yes," said Ema.

"Kimi, how are you feeling?" asked Masaomi.

"I'm good, thanks to big Sister sleeping with me," said Kimi.

"Good," said Masaomi, "Speaking of which. Ema can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure," said Ema.

"When you pick up Kimi and Wataru today from school can you stop by the store and pick up a new night light for Kimi?" asked Masaomi.

"Of course," said Ema, "We'll pick out a cute one for you okay Kimi?"

"Yay!" said Kimi.

"Well let's hurry and get dressed so you can get to school," said Masaomi, "Ukyo's getting breakfast ready. And just so you know I'm taking you and Wataru to school today."

"Okay," said Kimi with a smile. She really was feeling better after last night.

* * *

"Thanks for spending the night with Kimi last night. I'm sure that made things better for her," said Masaomi as he and Ema walked together down the hallway.

"You spent the night with that baby?" asked Futo coming out of his room as well with a sneer."

"Futo," said Masaomi, "You and I are going to have to have a talk about what you did last night to Kimi."

"I keep telling you, I told her it was a joke. It's not my fault she kept believing such a stupid story," said Futo.

"You think a four-year old can really understand that?" asked Masaomi.

"A dumb one might," said Futo.

"Like you have room to talk," said Tsubaki putting his arm around Futo's neck.

"Hey watch the hair!" Futo shouted, "I have a photo shoot this morning!"

"As I recall you use to make us check your bed each night when you were little," said Tsubaki.

* * *

_"Check under my bed and in my closet right now!" Little Futo ordered his big brothers, "If you don't and I get eaten by a monster you'll only have yourselves to blame!"_

* * *

"I remember that too," said Masaomi. Ema started giggled.

"That sounds cute," she said.

"It was not like that!" Futo insisted, "And in either case I would have believed it when someone said it was a joke and not make a big deal about it."

"Yeah sure," said Tsubaki.

"Masaomi, I'm all dressed," said Kimi as she came walking down the hallway. She stopped when she saw Tsubaki holding Futo in a headlock.

"Ah Kimi good morning," said Tsubaki, "I'm glad no monster got you. Futo here has something to say to you. Don't you Futo?"

"I do?" said Futo, "What could I possibly have to say to that little brat?"

"How about sorry for scaring you much last night from all that monster talk?" asked Tsubaki.

"Why should I apologize for that?!" said Futo, "I told her it was a joke."

"Futo, you shouldn't have said that in the first place," said Masaomi, "Now apologize to her about the monster and for tossing her toy into the tree."

"Now what are you talking about?" asked Futo.

"Yusuke told me what happened and how he hurt his back. It was from you tossing up Kimi's toy into the tree," said Masaomi, "Now apologize to her about it."

"Why is everyone gaining up on me?" asked Futo.

"Do you want me to really mess up your hair?" asked Tsuaki.

"Okay fine I'm sorry I tossed your dumb tree up into the tree and made you think there was a monster in your room," said Futo, "there happy now?"

"It'll do for now," said Masaomi, "Tsubaki let him go." Tsubaki agreed with a smirk, making an extra effort to mess up more of his brother's hair as he did.

"Ah man!" moaned Futo, "Where's Louis? Is he awake? I need him to fix my hair!" He ran off fast.

"Well hopefully he'll think next time before he tires making up stories about monsters and tossing toys up trees," said Tsubaki still wearing his smirk.

"Why is Futo so mean?" asked Kimi.

"He's not all bad," said Masaomi, "He's just not good at meeting new people. Just give him some time, he'll come around, I promise."

Futo could hear what both Kimi and Masaomi had said about him.

'Hmm, who cares what they think?' he thought.

* * *

"Kimi good to see you alive and well," said Ukyo when both Ema and Kimi made it downstairs. Wataru, Iori and Subaru were already there eating.

"Little Sister, Big Sister, hi!" Wataru.

"Did you manage to get some sleep Kimi?" asked Iori.

"Yeah, thanks to big sissy sleeping with me," said Kimi.

"Oh I could have done that!" Wataru moaned.

"It's probably best that Ema did it," said Ukyo, "I should get going. Have a good day everyone. Ema I hate to be rude but can you take care of the dirt dishes when you get home?"

"Sure," said Ema with a smile.

"I'll help!" said Kimi.

"Thank you Kimi," said Ema.

"I like helping big Sissy!" said Kimi, "She's so nice."

"It looks like Kimi really is doing better from last night," said Iori. Subaru nodded.

'I am really starting to like this family,' Kimi thought, 'Even with some of the bad that comes with it.'


	12. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM

"Well have a good day at school today Kimi and Wataru," Ema said to her two younger siblings once everyone was done with breakfast and heading out to their different locations, "I'll be there after school to pick you two up and go get Kimi's nightlight okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi.

"This sounds exciting getting to go shopping after school!" Wataru cheered. Ema giggled while Kimi backed away from him.

"Oh Ema, if you're going to the store can you pick up some of the things on this list?" asked Ukyo as he headed out and handed her the list.

"Of course," said Ema.

"It shouldn't be too big of a deal picking them up and watching both Wataru and Kimi right?" said Ukyo.

"No I don't think so," said Ema with confidence, "Is there anything else I should look into getting for Yusuke while he recovers?"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure he'll be back on his feet by the end of the day," said Masaomi, "Come on Kimi, Wataru."

"Bye Big Sissy," said Kimi.

"Bye Kimi take care," said Ema.

Kimi and Watar both sat in silence as Masaomi drove the two of them to school. Kimi was feeling a bit nervous over the idea of seeing her classmates again after Wataru had scared them all away from her yesterday.

"Kimi is something bothering you?" asked Masaomi noticing her nervous look through the rearview mirror.

"I just hope my classmates aren't scared to come near me," said Kimi.

"Hmm?" said Masaomi, "Oh I'm sure they're over Wataru scaring them all away yesterday."

"I wasn't trying to scare them. I was just trying to protect Little Sister," said Wataru, "They were being mean to her."

"No they weren't," said Kimi.

"Yes they were," Wataru insisted.

"No they weren't,"

"Yes they were,"

Masaomi gave off a chuckle over the two children bickering in the back seat.

"Alright, you two that's enough," he said finally. The two stop arguing and looked out their different windows.

Soon they arrived at the school.

"Kimi I'll walk you to class but first I want to talk to Wataru okay?" said Masaomi as they climbed out of the car, "Just wait here at the car."

"Okay," said Kimi doing as she was told. She looked around and saw one of the children from yesterday, Mura walking to the school along with her mother.

"Hi Mura," she tried calling out waving.

"Hi," said Mura sheepishly before walking into the school. She still looked nervous, most likely from Wataru shouting at her yesterday. That was making Kimi feel sad. It was probably going to make it harder to make friends.

"Wataru, I know what you did yesterday to Kimi's classmates, yelling at them and scaring them," said Masaomi.

"I was only do it to protect Little Sister," said Wataru.

"I understand but it was an accident don't forget," said Masaomi, "So how about today you just leave Kimi alone for the most part and let her try to get to know the kids in her class okay?"

"Okay," said Wataru not sounding too happy about the idea.

"Thank you," said Masaomi, "Have a good day at school now okay?" He walked back over to the car and Kimi, "Ready to go in?" Kimi nodded and took her brother's hand.

"Good morning," said Masaomi as he walked into Kimi's classroom.

"Oh good morning," said Miss Hogo with a sweet smile, "Are you another brother?"

"As a matter of fact I am," said Masaomi, "I'm Dr. Masaomi Asahina, I'm the oldest brother."

"Nice to meet you," said Miss Hogo, "I'm curious about meeting Kimi's other brothers and sister."

"About that, I'd like to apologize to you about what my youngest brother did yesterday yelling at he different kids over one of them accidentally throwing a ball at Kimi," said Masaomi, "I have spoken to him about that."

"Yes I think he scared the kids really badly unfortunately," said Miss Hogo, "Thank you for talking to him. I'm just worried about Kimi and the other kids being too scared to come near her. Hopefully they'll be able to get over there."

"I hope so too," said Masaomi, "Have a good day Kimi."

"Bye Masaomi," said Kimi as she walked further into the room. As she did, she noticed a lot o the kids moving awa from her out of fear. She sighed sadly. When the teacher called them all together for circle time nearly all the kids did their best to not sit near her. Miss Hogo noticed that too. It made her feel bad for Kimi.

"So who has something they'd like to share?" she asked, "Kimi?"

"I got to meet my last two brothers," she said, "One likes to dress as a girl." That caused some of the kids to laugh.

"That sounds interesting for sure," said Miss Hogo, "And the other one?"

"He's an idol," said Kimi.

"An Idol huh?" said Miss Hogo, "Oh that must be exciting. So who has something else to share?"

* * *

As Masaomi drove home he heard his phone go off. He hit the speaker button.

"Yes?" he said.

"Hi Masaomi," said Ukyo, "I was just calling because it looks like I'm going to be extra late tonight. If you get a chance can you call and ask Ema if she can make dinner tonight?"

"Sure," said Masaomi.

"Thank you," said Ukyo, "Did the little ones get to school okay?"

"Yes, they did," said Masaomi, "It was nice to meet Kimi's teacher. She seems like a nice lady."

"Oh yes she seems like a very nice lady and a wonderful teacher," said Ukyo.

"Yes, she's also really cute," said Masaomi. He noticed there was a pause on the other line.

"You noticed that too huh?" said Ukyo.

"It's kind of hard not to," said Masaomi.

"Right," said Ukyo, "Well I should go. Don't forget to call Ema about dinner."

"Yes of course, bye now," said Masaomi as he calmly hung up. He wasn't sure to him it sounded like Ukyo was upset he had mentioned that Kimi's teacher looked cute. She was after all. Was it so bad he had noticed too?

* * *

The rest of the day seemed to go on pretty well for Kimi. A few kids did seem to get over their fear and get close to her. When lunch time came Kimi was again the last one to head outside.

As she came towards some of the other kids she noticed a lot of them were looking over at her with caution. She took a deep breath before she walked back over to Mura's group near the wall.

"Hi," she said, "Can I sit with you?"

"Is your brother going to get mad if you do?" asked one of the other girls Ohan.

"I don't think so," said Kimi. She looked around and didn't see Wataru anywhere.

"Well okay if you want to," said Mura, "As long as your brother doesn't get mad."

"Thank you!" said Kimi happily taking a seat. The other girls all smiled but they still looked nervous of her sitting with her. Kimi noticed that they were all looking around for Wataru.

* * *

Wataru came running over to Kimi's area of the playground and saw her sitting with some of her other kids with an actual smile on her face. The girls she was siting with looked nervous however. He remembered what Masaomi had said and how mad Kimi had gotten at him yesterday so he decided to back away and instead go eat lunch himself with some of his own friends.

* * *

"Thank you for giving me the homework assignments for my brother," said Ema to her teacher once school was let out.

"Of course, I hope he recovers soon," said Ema's teacher.

"Our oldest brother said he should be back on his feet in no time," said Ema.

"How did he hurt back?" asked the teacher.

"He was trying to help our new sister. She got her toy stuck up in a tree," Ema explaiend.

"Oh well I hope he was able to get the toy down safely," said the teacher.

"Oh he did and our little sister was real sweet in thanking him," said Ema, "I got to go and pick her up by the way. I'll see you tomorrow Sensei."

Ema quickly started to hurry to the school gates.

"Well you seem off in a hurry,"

"Huh?" said Ema turning and seeing Futo standing off by himself in the shadows near the gate, "Futo, I didn't realize you were here."

"I had to reschedule my photo-shoot, no thanks to Tsubaki," said Futo, "So I'd thought I'd come to school to see my sweet little sister." He grabbed Ema by her arm and pulled her closer to him into the shadows.

"Futo!" said Ema in slight shock.

"It's just you and me here today. That stupid red head isn't here is he?" said Futo, "We should have some fun without him don't you think?"

"I have to go though!" said Ema as she managed to push Futo away from her.

"You don't want to hang out with me?" asked Futo.

"Well it's just I have to go pick up Kimi and Wataru and go shopping," said Ema, "Please excuse me."

"You're going to pick up the little ones huh?" said Futo, "All alone?"

"Well yes since Yusuke is still at home recovering," said Ema.

"Hmm well maybe I should go with you," said Futo.

"Huh, you want to come with me to pick up Kimi and Wataru?" asked Ema.

"Why wouldn't I want to help pick up my little brother and sister?" asked Futo.

"Are you sure that's going to be safe? What if you get recognized?" asked Ema.

"Oh that's easy," said Futo as he pulled out a old jacket and glasses, "There, just do your best to blurt out my name okay?"

"Uh sure," said Ema as they headed out.

* * *

"I'm so excited getting to go shopping with Big Sister!" said Wataru happily after school as he and Kimi waited for Ema to come and get them.

"Uh yeah," said Kimi smiling a small smile. Wataru looked over at her.

"Did you have a good time today Little Sister?" he asked.

"Uh yes," sid Kimi.

"Were you able to play with anyone?" asked Wataru.

"Well," said Kimi. Even though the girls had allowed her to sit with her, a lot still seemed a bit hesitating about playing with because of Wataru.

"Kimi, Wataru hello," said Ema running over to the two children.

"Big sister!" said Wataru.

"Hi Big Sissy!" said Kimi.

"Hi sorry we're late," said Ema.

"We?" said Kimi, "Did Yusuke get to come after all?"

"No, I did," said Futo as he came and stood next to Ema, "One of your better brothers."

"Oh you," said Kimi.

"Oh you?" said Futo, "What's that suppose to mean? You'd rather have him then me?"

"Uh well," Kimi tried to come up with an answer.

"Let's not worry about that right now," said Ema, "We still have to go shopping."

"Yeah, let's go shopping!" said Wataru.

"Did you manage to have a good day today at least?" Ema asked her two youngest siblings as they started to leave.

"A lot of the kids still seemed scared to come near me," said Kimi.

"Oh that's too bad," said Ema, "I'm sure they'll get over it once they get to know you."

"You think so?" asked Kimi.

"Of course they will," they heard Futo say. They all turned and saw him making a grand gesture of pulling off his glasses and jacket, "Who wouldn't want to be friends of such a famous idol as myself?" Everyone turned still on campus all turned and looked at him gasping.

"That's Futo Asahina,"

"Oh wow his sister goes to this school?"

Kimi looked around at the different people looking and whispering about seeing Futo. Futo made an even more grand gesture as he walked over and picked her up in his arms.

"I would hope you all treat my little sister right," he said, "She's so sweet it's hard to not be around her. I've only known her for a short time but I love her already!" He made Kimi rub her cheek against his. Kimi was feeling confused by this. He certainly didn't seem to like her yesterday.

"Kimi is he really your brother?" she heard Mura call out who was standing nearby with her mother.

"Uh yes," said Kimi.

"Wow," she said sounding impressed.

"You're welcome by the way," she heard Futo whisper, "I hope this makes you realize I'm all that bad!"

"Uh yes," said Kimi.

"Good because I'm not going to let someone like you make me look bad!" Futo whispered.

"Now come on Little Sister, we should get going. Its getting cold out and I don't want to see you get sick," he said loudly for everyone to hear.

"Oh he's so sweet to his little sister!" someone said.

'No, he's confusing,' Kimi thought as Futo carried her out in his arms followed by Ema and Wataru.

'Oh no fair,' Wataru thought, 'Futo's making Kimi like him more than me!'


	13. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT I N ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"Alright enough of this," said Futo once the four siblings were a good distance from the school. He dropped Kimi down, "I hope I didn't strain anything carrying you around like that." He gave Kimi a serious look. "You're welcome by the way."

"Uh thankyou?"Kimi said although she didn't understand what she was thanking him for.

"Anyway, can we just get home?" asked Futo as he dawned his disguise

"Oh we're not going home just yet," said Ema.

"What?" asked Futo not liking what he heard.

"We need to go get a night-light for Kimi," said Ema.

"A what?"said Futo.

"A night-light so her room's not so dark at night, " said Ema.

"Oh god, this isn't about that stupid monster thing is it?" asked Futo.

Well, " was all Kimi could get out.

"Oh man, I keep telling you it was a joke. It's not real!" Futo insisted loudly, "honestly how stupid are you? "

"Futo don't be mean," said Ema,

"we also have to go to the grocery store to get something for dinner. "

Well make sure it's not something that'll affect my stomach too much got it?" Futo said.

"Right" said Ema.

"Big brother Futo has an interesting diet," said Wataru.

You know all about it Wataru?" asked Ema.

"Yep, Ukyo has a list of foods everyone can and can't eat and I help him all the time with it," Wataru.

"Well how about you come with me to the store to buy the food while Futo takes Kimi to the the store for the night -light? " suggested Ema.

"Why would I want to do that? " Futo asked in a whining tone.

"Uh well I thought it was quick so you can get it and get home so you're not out here for so long and maybe get recognized," said Ema.

"Hmm you got a point, " futo said as he thought about it. "Alright let's do that. Come on you! " He grabbed Kimi's hand to led her off.

"See you back at the house," said Ema.

"Oh," she heard Wataru moan, "I want to spend time with Little Sister."

"It's okay you'll be able to spend time with her back at home okay? " said Ema, "And besides now we get to spend time with each other right?"

"Yeah,"said Wataru as he started to smile, "I like spending time with you too Big Sister! " Ema giggled.

"Thanks Wataru," she said. She looked back to wwhere Futo and Kimi were heading and hoped nothing bad happened while the two were together like that.

Kimi did her best to keep quiet as she let her brother lead her to the store.

"Make sure you make it quick. I don't want to be in here for too long, " said Futo.

"Uh yes," said Kimi timidly.

"Now where are those night-lights?" Futo asked out loud as the two walked up and down the different aisles.

"Look there,"said Kimi pointing to where a bunch were hung up.

"Oh finally. Pick one and let's go," Futo ordered.

"Uh," said Kimi looking the different ones. They all looked nice. It was hard to pick.

"Hurry up," insisted Futo.

"This one?" asked Kimi holding up one that had a teddy bear sleeping on the moon.

"Fine, let's get it," said Futo rushing to the front of the store.

"Hi can I help you? " asked the cleark at the checkout.

"Yes I'd like to buy this night-light, " said Futo.

"What night-light?" asked the cleark.

"The one my sister's holding," said Futo.

"Where's your sister?" asked the clerk.

"She's right here, " Futo said looking down where he finally realized Kimi wasn't there. "Kimi?" he said looking around, "Kimi?" He started looking around frantically, "Kimi?!"

"Futo?" he finally heard the little girl call out. He ran to the next aisle where she stood still standing next to the night-light display looking scared and confused.

"What are you still doing?!" Futo shouted at her. Kimi just shrugged her shoulders looking scared.

"You ran off with out me," she said timidly.

"I ran off?" asked Futo, "and what you couldn't keep up?"

"Sorry,"said Kimi sounding sad.

"Come on let's go," said Futo making sure to actually lead Kimi to the front to pay for her night-light.

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep up with you, " said Kimi as they left the store.

"Oh I guess it wasn't all your fault. I could have slow down for you I guess, " said Futo, "let's just forget about it okay? "

"Okay," said Kimi. The two walked home in silence and were soon back at the condo.

When they came into the living room they found Masaomi helping Yusuke walk around with a cane as Kaname, Tsubaki, Azusa and surprisingly Natsume all watched.

"The cane's only a precaution. You won't have to keep it permanently," Masaomi was telling Yusuke.

"Thanks," said Yusuke.

"Yusuke are you all better?!" Kimi asked running over to her big brother.

"Oh hey," said Yusuke, "I'm a little better now thanks."

"He should be able to go back to school tomorrow," said Masaomi.

"Good! " said Kimi smiling.

"Thanks for caring," said Yusuke.

"I hope you're this concern for me if I'm ever seriously hurt Little Sister, " said Kaname.

"Of course," said Kimi.

"Our little sister is so sweet," said Tsubaki, "speaking of which where's the other one?"

"And Wataru for that matter?" asked Masaomi.

"They went grocery shopping while me and this one went to get her that stupid night-light, "said Futo.

"Oh thank you for doing that for Kimi, that's real considerate of you, " said Masaomi.

"I still think it was stupid. I told her over and over the monster wasn't real and it was all a joke," said Futo.

"Monster?" Natsume asked.

"Poor Kimi thought she saw a monster in her room last night, " Tsubaki explained pulling Kimi close to him, "luckily for her I was there to scare it off. Right Kimi? " Kimi couldn't help but giggle at Tsubaki's comment and nodded.

"Hey I helped too don't forget. I made a special prayer and gave Kimi a charm to help keep evil away," Kaname added.

"You all helped," said Kimi.

"That's right we all did," said Masaomi.

"Well you don't have to worry about monsters Kimi. They're not real," said Natsume.

"That's what I keep telling her but she won't believe me, " said Futo.

"You shouldn't have told her about it in the first place, " said Natsume, "and besides a night-light is a nice thing for kids like Kimi to have. What kind did you get Kimi?" Kimi pulled it out to show everyone.

"Oh that's a cute one. I'm sure it'll keep you real safe," said Azusa.

"We're home,"said Ema coming into the living room with Wataru.

"We got lots of yummy things for dinner!"said Wataru. Then he noticed Yusuke, "Yusuke's all better, yay!"

"It's good to see you up and moving around Yusuke!" said Ema, "kind of."

"Oh the cane's only temporary," said Masaomi.

"Good, " said Ema, "oh hi Natsumi. What brings you by?"

"Well I wanted to check on Yusuke after being informed of his accident yesterday," said Natsume,"plus I wanted to make sure you got the game I dropped off the other day."

"Oh yes Kimi was real nice in getting it to me, " said Ema.

"Good, thank you Kimi," said Natsume, "I also have something for you as well." He pulled out a game envelope. "another division of my company is developing games meant for little girls like you. Would you like to try this one out for them?"

"Sure,"said Kimi.

"Good" said Natsume.

"Isn't it a little petty using your little sister as a test subject?" Said Tsubaki in a teasing tone.

"It's not like that, " said Natsume.

"Oh I remember hearing about this game when they were holding auditions to voice some of the princes and princesses,"said Azusa looking at the game, "I kind of wish I had audition now so I could be a prince for Kimi."

"You'd be a good prince Azusa, huh Kimi? " said Ema.

"Yeah,said Kimi smiling at Azusa. Azusa returned the smile.

"What about me?" asked Tsubaki.

"Tsubaki would be a good prince too!" said Kimi quickly.

"Oh Kimi, you are too sweet!" said Tsubaki hugging her, "if I was a prince I'd make sure to always protect you my princess!"

"You're pathetic sometimes you know that?" said Azusa.

"Oh you wound me sir,"said Tsubaki.

"So Natsume, are you going to stay for dinner? " asked Ema.

"You should Natsume," said Tsubaki, "it's so wonderful getting to enjoy meals with such two fine ladies."

"Well, " said Natsume thinking about it.

"I'm home," said Subaru suddenly appearing in the room. He stopped when he saw Natsume, "oh you're here. "

"Niceto see you too," said Natsume, "did you just come from practice? "

"Yes,"said Subaru, "not that it's any of your business." He stalked out of the room.

"I probably shouldn't stay after all, bye for now, " said Natsume.

"Uh bye,"said Ema.

"Bye-bye," said Kimi.

"Let me know what you think of the game Kimi," said Natsume as he left.

"Does Subaru not like Natsume?" asked Kimi.

"No, they just don't get along sometimes. A lot of siblings don't get along. It doesn't mean they hate each other, " said Masaomi.

Like Futo telling me about the monster? " asked Kimi.

"Kind of, " said Azusa with a chuckle.

"Hmm," muttered Futo.i


	14. Chapter 14

DISLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"Do you think you're going to be okay tonight Kimi?" Masaomi asked that night as he Ema and a bunch of the other brothers all helped put her to bed.

Kimi smiled with confidence and nodded.

"Good," said Masaomi, "So we won't be on another monster hunt tonight?" Kimi shook her head no.

"No Monsters!" she said with confidence.

"That a girl!" said Ukyo.

"Do you want one of us to check under the bed or under the closet?" asked Masaomi. Kimi again shook her head no.

"Okay then, good night," said Masaomi giving his little sister a hug, "If you get scared during the night though, don't worry to come and get us okay?

"Mmmhmm," said Kimi nodding again right as Masaomi switched on her new night-light.

"Kimi, would you like to have me sleep with you tonight?" asked Ema.

"No," said Kimi, "I'll be fine."

"Okay then, sweet dreams," said Ema giving her sister a kiss before following the other brothers out of the room.

* * *

"If you want someone to sleep with you, I'm available," Tsubaki said once they were outside of the room and put his arm around Ema.

"Tsubki, I'm sure you sleeping with her would only give her nightmares," said Azusa.

"Oh that wasn't nice Azusa," said Tsubaki.

"I'm just going to go to bed now myself," said Ema as she moved on to her own room, "Good night."

"Good night," said Masaomi.

"Do you think Kimi will be okay tonight?" Ukyo asked.

"Yeah I think she's going to be okay," said Masaomi with confidence.

Sure enough the next morning Kimi came bounding into the kitchen actually smiling.

"Kimi good morning," said Ema.

"Good morning Big Sister," said Kimi

"Did you manage to sleep well?" Ukyo asked as he put some of her breakfast down on the table for Kimi and put her into her seat.

"Uh-huh, no monsters!"said Kimi.

"Good," said Ukyo.

They were distracted by the sound of moaning as Yusuke came walking into the room limping on his cane.

"Yusuke, how are you feeling?" Ema asked.

"I'm fine," Yusuke said as he made his way over to a chair and sat down.

"Still hurt?" Kimi asked.

"It's nothing, nothing you need to worry about alright?" Yusuke insisted.

"Are you sure you're well enough to go to school today?" Ema asked.

"Oh yeah," said Yusuke, "I can make it."

"Well in either case why don't you let me pick Kimi and Wataru up from school today?" Ukyo said, "I'll have time to pick them up and go shopping."

"Are you sure that won't affect your work?" Ema asked.

"Nah, it's fine, I'll make the time one way or another," said Ukyo.

"Good morning everyone," said Louis walking into the kitchen yawning,

"Oh good morning," said Ema.

"Were you up late again last night?" asked Ukyo.

"Oh no, Futo woke me up early to do his hair before his photo shoot this morning," said Louis He moved over behind Kimi's chair, "How are you doing Little Chi? I heard you had a run in with a monster the other night."

"No, just Juli," said Kimi. Louis laughed.

"Well Juli can be a little monster sometimes," he said, "It's too bad there was no monster though. It would have been interesting doing a monster's hair. Maybe give him a big pink bow on his head or something." Both Kimi and Ema giggled at the comment.

"What are we laughing at?" Wataru asked coming into the kitchen.

"Louis wants to put a bow on a monster," said Kimi. Wataru laughed at that too.

"That would be funny," he said.

* * *

Kimi kept thinking about the idea of a monster with a pink bow all the way to school.

In fact when the teacher gave the class drawing time, she decided to draw a picture of Louis doing just that to a big blue furry monster.

"Oh that looks interesting Kimi," said Miss Hogo as she waked past her, "What are you drawing?"

"That's my big brother Louis styling a monster's hair with a pin k bow so he's not so scary," said Kimi.

"Oh?" said Miss Hogo.

"I thought there was a monster in my room but my brothers helped show me there wasn't and eve made him seem funny," said Kimi.

"Oh that was nice of them," said Miss Hogo, "I'm sure they'll like this picture you drew. Maybe they'll put it on the fridge or in your room."

Kimi seemed to like that idea.

"But why would your big brother want to put a bow onto a monster?" she suddenly heard Mura ask sitting next to Kimi.

"Louis likes to do hair," said Kimi, "He does my hair every chance he gets."

"You're lucky," said Mura, "I wish I had a I brother who could do my hair pretty like yours. Is he as loud as your other brother Wataru?"

"No he's usualy kind of quiet," said Kimi.

"What about the other brother from yesterday? Was that really the famous idol Futo?" asked Mura.

"Uh yes," aid Kimi.

"Wow, even my mommy like him," said Mura, "Is he really nice?" Kimi didn't answer right away. In her most honest opinion Futo really didn't seem that nice. On the other hand he had taken her to get her night-light and come looking for her when they got separated at the store.

"Yes, he's nice," she finally said.

"I knew it! I wish he could be my brother too!" said Mura, "You're so lucky Kimi!"

"Thank you," said Kimi. It seemed like Futo's big move from yesterday had really helped after all. Mura and a bunch of the other girls seemed more comfortable being around her Even at lunch when Mura's group again invited her to eat with her they didn't keep looking around nervous for Wataru. Kimi was once again feeling happy to be at her school.

* * *

"Have a good day boys and girls, see you tomorrow," said Miss Hogo after school, "Uh Kimi, is one of your big brothers coming to get you today?"

"Yep, big brother Ukyo," said Kimi.

"Good I would like to talk to him," said Miss Hogo as she walked with Kimi outside. There they found Wataru already waiting for Kimi

"Hi Kimi!" he said happily.

"Hi," said Kimi.

"Hello young man," said Miss Hogo, "Is your brother here yet?"

"Nope but he should be here soon," said Wataru

"Wataru, Kimi, here you ae," said Ukyo walking onto the school grounds, "How was school?"

"Great!" said Wataru.

"My teacher needs to talk to you," said Kimi.

"Oh?" said Ukyo slightly blushing looking at the lovely woman.

"I was just a bit concern about Kimi's picture," Miss Hogo explained, "She talked about a monster in her room."

"Oh we had a little scare a few days ago," said Ukyo, "But we were able to resolve it. She's doing better now."

"Good to hear," said Miss Hogo, "Bye Kimi, I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay, bye," said Kimi.

"Bye," Ukyo also said as Kimi's teacher walked away. Both Wataru and Kimi looked up at him.

"Well let's get going," he said quickly leading his siblings to his car.

He took the two of them to the grocery store.

"Okay what should we get?" Ukyo asked out loud as he walked around with a cart along with the two small children at his side.

"I want burgers! Let's get some burgers!" Wataru insisted.

"Kimi, does that sound okay to you?" Ukyo asked.

"I want some shrimp," said Kimi timidly.

"Ah, shrimp," said Wataru.

"We haven't had shrimp in a while," said Ukyo, "Why don't we do that tonight and have hamburgers tomorrow?"

"Do you really want shrimp little sister?" Wataru asked. Kimi slowly nodded her head, "Okay we can do that for you little sister. A big brother knows when to sacrifice something for their little sister!"

"That's right," said Ukyo, "Could you go get some shrimp from the back Wataru?"

"Yeah!" said Wataru as he hurried off .

"Now let's see what else should we have with the shrimp? asked Ukyo.

"Veggies?" asked Kimi.

"Yes, I think some leeks should be nice," said Ukyo. He and Kimi headed over to the produce section of the store and started picking out some fresh leeks, "Can you help hold these for me? Kimi nodded, feeling proud she could help carry something for her big brother.

"I got the shrimp!" said Wataru running up to them.

"Good thank you for your help Wataru," said Ukyo, "I think we have everything. Let's pay and go home."

"Yay, go home and play!"said Wataru.

"Play video game?" Kimi asked remembering the game Natsume ha wanted her to try for him.

"Sure you can play that when we get home. Maybe Ema can play it with you," said Ukyo.

"That would be fun," said Kimi.

* * *

By the time Ukyo got the kids home, they saw Ema helping Yusuke along towards the house.

"Just take it easy okay?" they heard her say to him.

"Yusuke!" said Kimi running up to him, "Are you still hurting?"

"Oh Kimi, no I'm fine," Yusuke said.

"Are you sure?" asked Ukyo, "The pain's not too much for you?"

"Oh no it's nothing I can't handle," said Yusuke .

"Yusuke you're to tough! I hope I can be as tough as you someday so I can help Kimi with anything she needs!" said Wataru.

"Whatever," said Yusuke as he continued into the house.

"Uh Big Sister?" Kimi asked tugging at Ema's sleeve.

"Yes Kimi?" said Ema smiling at her.

"Can we play the princess game later?" asked Kimi.

"The one Natsume gave you?" Ema asked. Kimi nodded. "Of course I'll play that with you later. That sounds like fun!"

"Thank you!" said Kimi. She kept smiling at the idea as she came into the house.

"My, my looks like we have a happy girl now instead of a sad one," said Hikaru right as she came in. Kimi lookd over and saw him sitting on the couch.

"Hikaru, you're back," said Ema when she saw him too.

"Well yes, when I heard about the monster attack I had to come see if there were any survivors," said Hikaru.

"There was no monster," said Kimi.

"That's even better news," said Hikaru.

"But I did draw a funny picture of one," said Kimi pulling out her picture and laying it on the coffee table.

"My-my, you are girl of many talents Kimi," said Hikaru, "Is that Louis in the picture too?"

"Yeah, he said he'd put a big pink bow on top of a monster if he ever saw one," said Kimi

"I'm sure he'd be great at it," said Hikaru, "We should frame this and put it on the wall so all can see huh? What do you say Kimi?"

"I can find a frame after dinner how about?" Ema offered.

"Is it really that good?" asked Kimi

"Of course, art like this is always so unique since there's only one of it, making it so lovely," said Hikaru, "Just like the artist herself." Kimi blushed at her brother's compliment, but at the same time felt proud he apparently thought s highly of her work.


	15. Chapter 15

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"Hmm, I wonder who that monster reminds me," Tsubaki said in a pretend serious tone as he and nearly all the other brothers looked at Kimi's picture hanging on the refrigerator. Snapped his fingers. "I know Futo of course."

"Tsubaki, stop picking on him especially when he's not here," said Masaomi.

"It's a very good picture I suppose," said Iori, "You seemed to do good at drawing Louis Kimi."

"Thank you," said Kimi.

"Next you should draw a picture of me maybe Little Sister," said Kaname, "I'm sure I could be the prefect model for your work."

"Should I draw you with a monster too?" asked Kimi.

"Well I was hoping more of being drawn with our other sister," said Kaname.

"I think a monster would have been more appropriate," said Ukyo.

"Oh come no now," said Kaname.

"I want to be in Little Sister's next picture!" Wataru started to shout, "Me, Me!"

"Wataru calm down, I'm sure if Kimi wants she can draw you too. Why don't we worry more about things like enjoying dinner Ukyo worked hard on," said Masaomi.

"It's just about done," said Ukyo walking back to the kitchen where Ema was helping to make the meal.

"I'm excited to have some shrimp. We haven't had an in a while," she said.

"Well it was Kimi's idea," said Ukyo, "Along with the leeks."

"Mmm this is going to be delicious," said Ema. "Good idea Kimi."

"Are we still going to play after?" Kimi asked.

"Oh you mean your game, yes we're going to be able to still play it I promise," said Ema patting her head.

Kimi was so excited about the idea that she found herself eating really fast during dinner.

"Kimi, don't rush eating your food. You don't have to worry about choking," said Masaomi.

"But I want to get to my game!" said Kimi.

"You'll get to your game soon enough, it's not going anywhere," said Masaomi.

"Okay," said Kimi slowing down. She slumped down a little disappointed but did as her brother requested and soon enough her plate was all cleaned.

"There see," said Ukyo as he gathered up Kimi and some of the other dirty plates, "Just like Masaomi said you didn't have to worry about rushing."

"Do you need help doing the dishes Ukyo?" Ema asked.

"No I'm fine," said Ukyo, "Why don't you go ahead and try playing that game Kimi's real anxious to try."

"Okay, if you're sure you don't need help," said Ema.

"Most positive," said Ukyo. She could see Kimi smiling happily as she helped lift the little girl up from her seat.

"Come on come on!" Kimi insisted tugging at Ema's hand.

"Okay, okay," said Ema with a giggle walking with Kimi to the main living room. She popped the princess game into the game player and sat down next to Kimi to play.

"Are you sure you want to play this Little Sister?" Wataru asked as he followed," I was hoping we could play together."

"You want to play too Wataru?" Ema asked, "It looks like it's a multi-player game."

"No that's a girls' game. Why would I want to play a girls' game?" asked Wataru.

"It might be interesting to watch at least," said Kaname walking into the room, "If there really are princess in it."

"Plus it could be interesting to see if it'd be worth auditioning for should the opportunity ever come up again," said Tsubaki as he and Azusa joined Kaname on the couch, "Eh Azusa."

"Sure I suppose," said Azusa.

"Let's see, well it looks like first we get to pick out how our princess should look. Kimi do you want to go first?" asked Ema looking at the screen.

"Uh," said Kimi looking at character who was standing in her nothing but her underwear and bald.

"You should make her have yellow hair like your pretty hair," said Kaname.

"Huh?" said Kimi.

"Here like this," said Ema taking Kimi's control and using it to select yellow as the hair color, "What do you think Kimi?"

"I want her to look like you Big Sister," said Kimi, "With brown hair."

"Brown hair huh?" said Ema as she switched the hair color, "Like that?"

"Yeah!" said Kimi.

"That is a good look on her," said Tsubaki.

"Now we need to pick out a dress. What color would you like Kimi?" asked Ema.

"Uh I want," Kimi had to think about it as she looked at the different color dresses, all looking really nice.

"Get the pink one, get the pink one!" Wataru started to insist as he sat down next to Kimi, "Pinks a good color on girls!"

"I want, green," said Kimi at last.

"Green but green's so boring!" said Wataru.

"Wataru come on. Let Kimi make her own choice," said Azusa.

"Green it is then," said Ema, selecting the green dress for Kimi's princess, "What do you think Kimi?"

"She's really pretty!" said Kimi.

"Not as pretty as our sisters of course," said Kaname.

"Now it's mine turn. Let's see, what color should I do my hair?" Ema asked.

"I always like your hair the color it is now Chi," said Louis suddenly walking into the room.

"Oh it's not for me it's for a video character I'm using to play with Kimi," said Ema.

"Oh good, don't ever try changing your hair color. It's too pretty the way it is," said Louis heading to the kitchen.

"So what color should do my hair?" Ema asked again.

"Brown!" both Kimi and Wataru said together.

"You think I should do brown huh?" said Ema.

"Is a lovely color," said Tsubaki.

"We can have sister princesses!" said Kimi.

"Okay if you want brown I'll pick out brown," said Ema selecting brown hair for herself, "And what color dress should I get?" She flipped through some of the dresses before coming to the blue dress, "What do you think of this one Kimi?"

"I like it," said Kimi.

"Yes blue is a very lovely color on you," said Tsubaki.

"Okay so now we have our princess selected, we can finally get started on the game," said Ema as she and Kimi came to the main story line. The narration told them they had to do certain things to get ready for an upcoming ball where they'd get a chance to dance with a handsome prince. The more tasks they completed, the more things like fancier carriages or dresses Also they'd be able to win certain accessories like necklaces and tiaras if they won certain challenges.

"Is this looking like fun Kimi?" Ema asked.

"Uh-huh," said Kimi as the two of them started on their first challenge which was to make it down a fancy stair case with out slipping. While Ema seemed to be able to use her control with ease and guide her character down Kimi's seem to keep slipping and tripping, making her have to start at the top again. In the end Ema wound up winning the challenge and earned a fancy looking pair of shoes.

"Oh," Kimi moaned disappointed, "I'm not too good at this am I?"

"It's okay Kimi, I'm sure you'll get better the more you try," said Ema, "Maybe you'll win the next one huh?"

"Okay," said Kimi. The next challenge consisted in the two princess walking through a garden and collecting flowers. They had to watch out for stones to not trip on and watch out for flowers that might have bees or thorns. Once again Ema seemed to be able to do it all with ease while Kimi didn't seem to do as good.

"Oh," Kimi moaned again, "I wish I was better."

"Here let me see," said Wataru as he took the control from Kimi, "I bet I can help you with this sister. He managed to maneuver Kimi's princess around until making the two princess tie and letting both win a pair of fancy blue gloves.

"Yay I did it!" said Wataru, "Look Little Sister! I got you some gloves!"

"Thank you," said Kimi, "can I try now?"

"Let's see what the next challenge is first," said Wataru quickly looking back to the screen. The next challenge was for the princess to ride a horse around making sure not to make it go too fast and risk falling off.

"Maybe you better let me do this one Little Sister. This looks difficult," said Wataru as he started for Kimi.

"But I want to try," said Kimi.

"No let's me do it. I'll win it for you," said Wataru.

"Okay," said Kimi.

"Maybe on the next challenge you can take over again Kimi," said Ema as she started to play. She felt bad at the way Wataru had sort of taken over Kimi's controller but figured he'd give it back soon.

However it soon became apparent that Wataru wasn't going to give Kimi back her controller anytime soon no matter how many times she asked for it.

"Just let me do it for you little sister," Wataru said as they soon came to the end of the game, "Look at all the pretty things I won for you to take to the ball."

"Can I at least play at the ball?" Kimi asked as the ball level came on and the princesses were allowed to pick a prince to dance with.

"To think that could have been me getting to dance with one of my princess sisters," Tsubaki moaned.

"Can I dance with the prince please?" Kimi asked.

"You probably should Wataru. This is her game after all," said Ema.

"But I've been the one playing for her this whole time," said Wataru.

"Yes and she kept asking for it back the whole time and you never gave it to her," said Azusa, "Give it back to her and let her play her game."

"But she can't do it right," said Wataru.

"Well you never know. Maybe she can do it if she tries hard," said Ema.

"No, she's too little, so she's not too smart to get to do something like this," said Wataru.

"I'm not smart?" said Kimi feeling slightly hurt. Everyone turned and looked at her.

"Wataru, that wasn't a nice thing to say," said Azusa seriously.

"I'm going to go to my room," said Kimi as she stood up and headed to the stairs.

"Oh no Little Sister, I didn't mean it like that!" Wataru tried to call out. Kimi just ignored him and instead hurried to her room.

"Kimi are you going to be okay?!" Ema tried calling out after her too. Kimi however ignored her too and kept running to her room. As she ran she felt some tears coming down her face.

When she got to her room she sat next to her bed and hugged her knees to her chest still crying slightly.

'I'm guess I'm not really that smart, am I?' she thought sadly, 'Futo even said I was kind of stupid for believe in the monsters even after he told me he was only joking and now Wataru says I'm stupid for not being able to play a game right. I didn't think I was that stupid but I guess I am.'

Just then there was a knock at her door.

"Little Chi, are you in there?" asked Louis from the other side.

"Uh yes," said Kimi wiping away her tears. Louise opened the door to her room and came smiling.

"I just wanted to say how much I liked your picture you drew of me putting the pink bow on the monster and," he stopped talking when he noticed Kimi upset face, "Is something wrong Little Chi?"

"I'm not smart," said Kimi sadly.

"Oh and who says you're not smart?" asked Louis as he sat on the bed next to Kimi.

"Futo says I'm stupid because I believed there was monster in here even after hearing it was a joke And then Wataru said I'm stupid for not being able to know how to play the nice game Natsume got for me since I'm so little," said Kimi.

"Oh that's what happened," said Louis.

"I must be really stupid huh?" said Kimi.

"No I don't think you are. You'd be surprised how often people believe in certain things even after being told it was a joke or something. If it seems real what else are you to think. And you're not stupid for not knowing how to play the game. You just haven't had a chance to really play something like that before You need some practice is all. That's how I got to be so good at doing hair, I practiced. And in just so you know Futo thinks everyone but him is stupid so don't even listen to him when he calls you that. Also I don't think Wataru meant to call you stupid. I think he was trying to be like a big brother and help you. He really wants to be like a bit brother and be helpful with you like the rest of us are. Does that make sense?"

"I guess," said Kimi, "Still hurt."

"Well siblings do that sometimes, say things that can be hurtful. However they can also easily forgive siblings for saying things like especially if they feel the brother or sister is really sorry," said Louis.

"Oh?" said Kimi.

"Little Sister?" said Wataru walking into the room with his hands behind his back, "I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to be rude. If you'll forgive me you can have this." He held up a blue toy bunny, "It's one of my favorites. But if it makes you feel better and know I'm sorry you can have it." He handed her the toy. Kimi looked down at the toy and then up at Wataru.

"No you can keep it. I know you're sorry," said Kimi handing him back to the bunny.

"You forgive me?" asked Wataru excited. Kimi nodded.

"Do you want play the game with me next time?" Kimi asked.

"Sure, I'll even make sure not to steal your controller!" said Wataru.

"Thank you Wataru, "Did you win the game?"

"No I was so upset about making you upset I gave up and let Big Sister win," said Wataru.

"I bet she was a pretty princess," said Kimi.

"Oh yes she is and you are too Little Chi," said Louis, "Do you at least feel better now?"

"Yeah," said Kimi and to prove her point she got up and gave both her brothers a hug.

'I'm glad my brothers and I can get along like this!' she thought.


	16. Chapter 16

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY SHAPE, OR FORM

Kimi hummed happily to herself as she sat in the drawing-room coloring. It was her first real Saturday in her new home and she was eager to have a nice carefree day like she did back in the orphanage.

"Kimi, you have a visitor," she suddenly heard Masaomi say. She looked up at him walking in and saw Natasume was following close behind him.

"Hello Kimi," he said in his usual serious tone as he walked over and kelt next to her.

"Hi," said Kimi.

"I've come to hear what you thought of that princess game I brought for you earlier this week," said Natsume, "Did you like it?"

"It was pretty but hard," said Kimi.

"Was it?" said Natsume, "Maybe it's to advanced for a girl your age. I should advise them to market it to older girls. But you did like it right?" Kimi nodded.

"I like getting to pick the princesses' hair and dresses and all the pretty things you can win," she said.

"Good, I'm glad to know you still liked it," said Natsume, "And in the meantime here." He handed Kimi an new envelope, "This might be more of your level. It's an animal counting game. Do you want to try it?"

"Are elephants in it?" asked Kimi.

"I think so," said Natsume, "You play it and find out okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi.

"Now where's Ema?" asked Natsume, "I have a game for her too."

"She's upstairs taking care of the laundry," said Ukyo walking into the room.

"Is she? Well maybe I'll wait for her then. I uh have an invitation of sorts for everyone," said Natsume.

"Oh Natsume hello," said Ema suddenly walking into the room with an empty basket.

"Oh hi," said Natsume.

"What brings you by?" asked Ema.

"I was hoping to ask Kimi what she thought of the princess game and bring you both a new game," said Natsume holding up the other envelope up for.

"Oh thank you. I was wondering when it was coming," said Ema excited.

"Thank you," said Natsume, "Um I have an invitation for everyone as well. Next weekend my company is holding a company picnic at Sunway park and they're encouraging everyone to invite as many family members as they can."

"A picnic huh?" said Masaomi, "Sounds like fun. I'll make sure to let everyone know about it."

"I should hope so. Apparently everyone at work thinks we're not connecting well enough so they're hoping this will help with all of this," said Natsume

"Do they want us to bring some of our own food as well?" asked Ema.

"Yes, that's most acceptable," said Natsume, "By the way I wanted to ask. Did you happen to play that princess game with Kimi at all?"

"Oh yes I did, several times. It's actually kind of fun. If I was closer to Kimi's age I'd be crazy for it. Although I can't help but think it's it a bit advanced for Kimi," said Ema looking over at little girl still sitting at the table.

"Yes, she's mentioned that," said Natsume also looking her way, "But that's okay. I brought her a new game that might be more of her level I think she might like."

"Oh, maybe we should try that later together huh Kimi?" Ema suggested.

Kimi nodded eagerly.

"Good, I hope to hear what you think next week at the picnic," said Natsume, "I hope to see most of you there. I should get going." As he turned to leave however he happened to come face to face with Subaru.

"Oh hi," said Natsume.

"What are you doing here?" asked Subaru.

"I was here to see Kimi. I wanted to know what she thought of the game I brought by for her earlier. I also wanted to give her and Ema each a new game," said Natsume.

"Hmm well good for you," said Subaru.

"What about you? Don't you have practice today at all?" asked Natsume.

"No, not today anyway," said Subaru, "Not that it's any of your business."

"Fine if that's what you think," said Natsume. Both he and Subaru headed their different ways.

"Hopefully see you all next weekend," said Natsume before he left.

"What's next weekend?" asked Subaru.

"Natsume's invited us to his company's picnic next weekend" said Ema sounding excited, "I've never done something like that before. Papa was usually too busy to attend anything like that."

"Well then, we should definitely make sure we go huh?" said Masaomi.

"Don't think that'll be fun Kimi? asked Ema.

"Yeah," said Kimi. She remembered sometimes the orphanage would treat the kids to picnics sometimes.

"I wonder what we should bring to it," said Ema.

"Looks we'll have to make sure to make a trip to the grocery store sometime this week to see if we can find something worth bringing," said Ukyo, "I'll make sure to make a note of it."

"Kimi, do you want to try that new game Natsume brought you?" Ema asked walking over to her to little sister.

"Okay," said Kimi handing Ema the envelope. She managed to put her crayons away while Ema popped the game in.

"Okay let's see what we got here," said Ema as the game came onto the screen. A bunch of jungle animals all popped up.

The game was a one person game and it centered on helping the animals count in different counting games. Sine only one person could play at a time Ema let Kimi use the control more and just helped her when she got stuck on how to control something in the game. It seemed a lot more fun then the princess one and a lot more easier to manage. Kimi really seemed to like it.

"This sure does seem like fun huh Kimi?" said Ema after a while

"Yeah," said Kimi.

"We should make sure to show Natsume you like it the next time you see him huh?" said Ema.

"Yeah," said Kimi, "Natsume's nice.'

"I think he'd appreciate being called that," said Ema.

"Hmm," the two heard Subaru mutter who was watching the two from the side.

He walked off in a slight huff. Kimi moved over and hugged Ema tight.

"Kimi, is something wrong?" Ema asked.

"I don't want to not get along like Natsume and Subaru. I wish they'd got along. It makes me sad that they don't like each other."

"Yeah me too but don't you worry. I won't let that happen to us okay?" Ema promised hugging her sister back.

"Do you think Subaru or Natsume might not like me?" Kimi asked. She was surprised by someone putting a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see it was Subaru.

"I don't hate Natsume Kimi," he said, "And I won't ever not like you. I'll try being nicer to Natsume how about if it would make the two of you feel better okay?"

"Promise?" asked Kimi.

"Yes" said Subaru. That seemed to make Kimi feel better. She looked over to Ema and saw she also seemed to be smiling a smile of relief.

"That's sounds like a great idea," she said. Subaru looked up at Ema to see her smiling too. It made him feel more motivated to do as he promised to get along with Natsume better next time he saw his brother.

* * *

"This is going to be so much fun!" Wataru shouted next weekend as the family all headed to the park, "Picnic's are so much fun! Fun, Fun, Fun!"

"Yes this should be very enjoyable," said Masaomi.

"This is really exciting," said Ema as she held a picnic basket. Ukyo and Kimi were also both holding baskets as well, "Are you excited Kimi?"

"Mmm-hmm," said Kimi with a smile holding Ema's hand with free hand, "Do we have enough food though?"

"Well there's going to be a lot more people here then us and I'm sure they all brought food as well. So we'll be just fine I'm sure," said Masaomi.

"Oh wow, there are a lot of people here," said Ukyo as they all arrived at area for the picnic where they saw huge crowd mingling around different picnic tables with a lot of children running around or playing among the toys in the playground area.

"Wow, I guess everyone from the company and his brother all showed up," said Tsubaki.

"Over here," they heard Natsume call out. The whole family saw him standing near an empty table with a label on it with the family's last name.

"So glad to see you could all make it," said Natsume as everyone came over to the table.

"Yes this is looking very nice. I never realized you were surrounded by so many different lovely ladies," said Kaname, "Maybe I should have gone into video making."

"A lot of them are relatives of my co-workers," said Natsume.

"Still though, I wonder how many of them need to offer up prayers to god," said Kaname as he wondered off among the crowd.

"I'll be needing prayers to god if he does anything stupid," Natsume moaned. He glanced over at Ema and saw she was pulling out a few trays of some of her fry chicken, "I was hoping you were going to make that."

"Oh glad I could make you happy," said Ema. She picked one up and offered it up to him, "Here." Natsume looked at her in slight surprise but still took it.

"Thank you," he said

"Oh," Tsubaki moaned putting his arm around Ema, "Why don't you ever feed me?"

"Uh well," said Ema.

"Come on now, don't be shy," said Tsubaki pointing to his mouth, "Right here."

Juli surprised him by suddenly appearing on Ema's shoulder hissing at him.

"Don't you dare Chi!" he snarled.

"You brought your pet?" Natsume asked.

"Well it's not that easy to leave him behind," said Ema sheepishly.

"Little Sister, come on, let's go play!" said Wataru shouted pulling at Kimi's hand.

"But Ukyo and Big Sister need help with the food," said Kimi.

"Oh no Kimi we got it," aid Ukyo, "You go play with Wataru and the other children."

"Yes go and play, enjoy your time," Natsume insisted, "The rest of you too. Go and mingle for bit, get to know everyone."

"Right," said his siblings as they all headed out among the crowd.

Subaru looked around and saw there was a basketball court and walked over with the basketball he had brought.

Natsume watched him walked over and followed him.

"Keeping sharp with your skills?" he asked.

"Yes, it's like you always say, I shouldn't slack off," said Subaru. He made a shot and let the ball roll over to Natsume. Natsume picked it up and dribbled it a little himself.

"Are you feeling ready for the next game?" he asked as he went and made a shot.

"Yes," said Subaru.

"Good I look forward to seeing you play," said Natsume.

"Yeah thanks," said Subaru. Natsume wasn't sure but something about the way Subaru was acting around him it felt like he wasn't being so stiff with him.

"Did something happen?" he asked.

"Hmm?" asked Subaru.

"You don't seem so hostile with me today," said Natsume. Subaru looked over at Kimi who was still dealing with playing with Wataru and some of the other kids.

"Her?" asked Natsume following his gaze.

"I heard her say it makes her sad we apparently don't get along. I don't really want to make a little kid like her sad so I promised her I'd do more to get along with you," Subaru explained, "Her and Ema."

"Oh, so you're doing this for Ema huh?" said Natsume.

"I'm doing it for both of them," Subaru insisted.

"Well it wouldn't hurt to try to mend some fences I suppose," said Natume.

"Yes thank you," said Subaru. He threw the ball back to his brother, "Think you can out do in free throws?"

"I guess there's only one way to find out," said Natsume as he shot the ball at the basket again.

* * *

Kimi head the sound of the ball dribbling and saw two of her brothers playing together.

'It's just like Subaru promised, he and Natsume are getting along now,' she thought.

Just then the ball rolled towards her.

"Kimi," Subaru called out to her motioning Kimi back over to the two of them. Kimi immediately picked up the ball and carried it over to the two of them.

"Here," she said handing it to Subaru.

"Thank you," said Subaru smiling at the girl, "Um do you want to play?"

"Uh I can't reach," said Kimi looking at the tall hoop.

"Well maybe I can help," said Subaru. He handed her the ball and picked her up, "Go ahead try it.

"Okay," said Kimi as she shot the ball and managed to get it into the net.

"Nice job Kimi, if you keep that up, you can be just like Subaru some day," said Natsume.

Kimi giggled.

None of them saw Wataru watching.

'Oh why can't I ever have a fun time like that with Little Sister?' he thought getting jealous.


	17. Chapter 17

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"Boy this is some picnic huh?" Masaomi said out loud as he walked around the different guests. As he walked he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh I'm sorry," he said.

"Oh no big deal," said the person turning around, "Oh you're one of Kimi's brothers right, Masaomi or something like that?"

"Oh Miss Hogo!" said Masaomi surprised at seeing Kimi's teacher standing in front of him, "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Me too," said Akemi, "Do you have a family member that works here?"

"Yes my younger brother Natsume," said Masaomi.

"My brother works for the company too, his name's Chomei," said Akemi.

"Oh good for you," said Masaomi.

"I take it Kimi's here than as well?" asked Akemi.

"Uh yeah she's around here somewhere," said Masaomi.

"I bet she's going to be really excited for our next class project coming up," said Akemi, "We'll be taking our yearly trip to the zoo and before the trip I always like to have the kids to research and projects based on a certain animal they'll see there."

"That sounds wonderful. I'm sure she'll love that," said Masaomi.

"Masaomi have you tried these kabobs? They're amazing," Ukyo said suddenly walking up to his brother, "I got to figure out who brought these so I can try making it."

"Oh I think I know who brought those. They're good friends with my brother," said Akemi.

"Oh Miss Hogo," said Ukyo in surprise, "It's nice to see you here."

"Likewise," said Akemi, "If you want I can go find the person who made them and see if they can give you the recipe."

"Sure," said Ukyo.

"Be right back," said Akemi as she walked off.

"What is she going here?" Ukyo asked Masaomi.

"Her brother works for the company too," said Masaomi.

"Who is he?" Ukyo asked looking around.

"I don't know, maybe Natsume knows," said Masaomi. The quickly headed over to their younger brother who was still shooting hoops with Subaru and Kimi.

"Natsume," Masaomi asked, "Do you know who Chomei Hogo is?"

"Huh?" said Natsume, "Chomei? Yeah I know him. He's one of our concept artists."

"He's an artist huh?" said Ukyo.

"Yes, oh there he is," said Natsume pointing past his brother. The two turned around and saw what almost looked like a giant walking past. He stopped and looked the two men over before walking on.

"That's Chomei Hogo?" asked Masaomi.

"Yeah, he's an okay guy except when it comes to his sister. I've met her a few times when she's come by the office and I've also see how her brother reacts when he sees a man hitting on her," said Natsume.

"Oh," said both older brothers.

"Why did you want to know?" asked Natsume.

"Oh his sister's Kimi's teacher," said Ukyo.

"Is Miss Hogo here?" Kimi asked.

"She's around here somewhere," said Ukyo.

"Little Sister, aren't you going to come back and play?" Wataru called out.

"You should go do that. I'm sure playing with Wataru and the other children is more fun than playing with your boring older brothers," said Masaomi.

"Oh thanks," said Subaru. He still put Kimi down, "Go ahead and go play with Wataru for a bit. He'd like that."

"Okay," said Kimi running back to the playground with Wataru and the rest of the children.

"Oh here you are Mr. Asahina," said Akemi walking up to the brothers, "I found the people who brought those kabobs you were asking about and she was nice enough to give me a copy of the recipe for them, here." She handed him a card

"Thank you," said Ukyo tucking it away.

"Akemi, what did you just give this man?" Akemi's brother asked suddenly coming up behind her, "It wasn't your brother was it?"

"No," said Akemi, " It was just a recipe he was asking about. And even if it was, it was none of your business Chomie. God you're too protective of me."

"You're my sister, it's my job," said Chomie.

"Sure that's it," said Akemi, "Excuse me." She walked off by herself. Chomie looked at Ukyo and he also looked over at Masaomi.

"I hope that was just a copy of a recipe she gave you and nothing more. I'm very picky when it comes to someone dating my little sister got it!" he said in a serious tone.

"Hogo, don't be that way. My brothers don't mean any harm," said Natsume.

"Sorry sir," said Chomie. He still gave the two older brothers a warning look before walking off.

"Well, he seems nice," said Masaomi.

"Well you can't blame a guy for being protective of a sister right?" asked Ukyo.

* * *

"Kimi," Kimi suddenly heard her teacher call out, "I heard you were here."

"Hi Miss Hogo!" Kimi said running over to her sister.

"Are you having fun dear?" her teacher asked.

"Yeah," said Kimi.

"That's good to hear," said Miss Hogo patting her head, "I hope you're ready for school next week. We're going to be doing something really fun."

"Like what?" asked Kimi .

"It'll be a surprise but you'll see soon enough," Miss Hogo promised with a smile, "You go ahead and keep having fun okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi watching her teacher walk off. She really liked her teacher.

"Little Sister," said Wataru running up behind her, "do you want to go get a cookie or something? They look like they put some nice ones out."

"Okay," Kimi agreed as the two walked over to a table covered with deserts.

"Oh they all look so good!" said Wataru looking at all the different cakes and cookies available, "What do I want first?!" He wondered down the table looking at them leaving Kimi momentarily alone.

Kimi looked around at the different deserts herself trying to figure out what she might want.

Eventually she reached up and took a one fancy decorated cookie from an almost empty plate. IT had lots of different frosting and sprinkles on it.

She was about to eat it when a boy came up next to her and looked at the empty plate.

"Hey what happened to all the fancy cookies?" he asked. He looked over at Kimi who was just about to take a bite of her cookie. "Did you get the last one Kid?"

Kimi nearly dropped her cookie as he said that since he said it so loud. She vaguely recognized the boy. He looks familiar, like from school, older than her but younger than Wataru.

"Did you get the last fancy cookie?!" the boy asked again.

"Uh I think so," said Kimi timidly. The boy got a scowl on his face.

"Those were Miss Hogo's cookies too!" he said.

"They are?" said Kimi in slight surprise. She didn't realize they had been made by her teacher.

"She'd always make them for special occasions like birthdays! It's not fair! I'm not in her class anymore so I can't get anymore! Give it back!"

"But," Kimi said not sure how to tell the boy no since he seemed so intimidating.

"Give me!" Wataru heard a boy shout. He turned and saw a boy younger than him picking on Kimi.

"Okay here," Kimi finally relented handing him her cookie.

"Thanks!" the boy snapped.

"Hey!" Wataru shouted running back over to the two, "Don't you take my sister's cookie away from her! Give it back!"

"Make me!' the boy taunted as he made an effort to take a bite out of the cookie.

"Give that back!" Wataru shouted as he took the cookie from the boy.

"Hey my cookie! He stole my cookie! This mean boy stole my cookie!" the other boy started to shout to loudly that it caught the attention of Miss Hogo.

"What is going on here?" she asked walking over to the table, "Aiji, is everything okay?"

"No this mean boy stole my cookie!" Aiji insisted pointing at Wataru.

"Young man is that true?" asked Miss Hogo.

"No he took it away from my little sister first!" Wataru argued.

"I didn't take, she gave it to me," Aiji turning to look at Kimi, "Right, you gave it to me."

"Uh yes," said Kimi timidly. She was still a bit rattled over the way the boy had yelled at her. No one had ever really yelled at her like that before.

"See, she gave it to me because she's so nice. She's not a thing like you, her big mean brother, always picking on little kids and all," said Aiji.

"Oh Mr. Asahina," moaned Miss Hogo, "I know you think you're protecting your sister, but really you're not helping much if you keep interfering when it comes to other children being around your sister."

"But I wasn't!" Wataru insisted.

"Come on Aiji, let's go find your parents," said Miss Hogo taking his hand, "and you Mr. Asahina give the boy back his cookie."

"But it's not his," said Wataru.

"Just give it back please," said Miss Hogo.

"Fine," said Wataru finally giving the cookie back to the bully.

"And if I see your brothers again I'm going to have to tell them what you were doing young man," said Miss Hogo leading Aiji off. Aiji made sure to turn around and smirk at both Wataru and Kimi as he was led off.

"Why didn't you tell the truth?" Wataru asked Kimi once they were gone, "He made you give him the cookie."

"I don't know," said Kimi said still trembling, "He scared me.

* * *

"Here you go Aiji," said Miss Hogo handing Aiji off to his parents, "Don't worry I'll make sure to talk to the boy's older brothers about him. I think he means well, he just needs to lean a bit of self-control is all."

"Thank you," said the boy's mother.

"In fact I think I see one right now," said Miss Hogo noticing Ukyo walking past talking with Natusme, "Mr. Asahina?"

"Oh yes Miss Hogo?" Ukyo asked walking over to her along with Natsume.

"You really need to talk to your brother about being so protective of your little sister. She gave this boy a cookie and he thought he stole the cookie instead," said Miss Hogo.

"He did?" said Ukyo.

"I would think your brother would have more self-control Natusme," said the boy's father.

"He does, he's just young and a little high sprung," said Natsume, "I'm sorry he picked on your son like that."

"You should be," said Aiji's father.

"Don't worry I promise we'll talk to him," said Ukyo, "Let's go find him."

The two walked back over to the snack table to find Wataru and Kimi still standing there.

"Wataru!" said Natusme, "What were you up to this time?!"

"Nothing, I didn't do anything!" said Wataru.

"Let me handle this," said Ukyo, "Wataru, I understand you want to be a big boy and help look after Kimi but you got to learn not to go around harassing any kid that comes near her alright?"

"But I wasn't!" Wataru tried to explain again.

"Wataru, you're a big enough boy know to know when to take responsibility for your own actions. Please do so," said Natsume. Wataru groaned.

"But," Kimi also tried to speak up.

"There you all are," said Masaomi suddenly walking over to the group along with the rest of family, "It's getting kind of late. We should be getting home. Are you two ready to do?"

"Yes," said Kimi and Wataru.

"Good," said Masaomi, "This was a great picnic Natsume. Thanks for inviting us."

"Thanks for coming. It was nice to let my family meet my work. Even if some of them can't seem to behave," said Natusme.

"I didn't cause that much of a ruckuses thank you," said Tsubaki.

"And only one of your work angles gave me her number," said Kaname. Natsume just moaned.

"We're sorry if we embarrassed you!" said Ema.

"It's fine, I'm happy you did come though," said Natsume, "and I hope you all had fun."

"Can we come back here another time?" Kimi asked.

"I'm sure we can work out a time where we can do that," said Masaomi, "Let's go ahead and head home then. Bye now Nastume."

"Bye," said both Kimi and Wataru both waving to their big brother.

"Bye now," said Natsume as he watched his siblings all leave. "Subaru good luck at your next game."

"Thanks," said Subaru before leaving with the others.

* * *

As the family all headed to the car Kimi glanced over at Wataru who wasn't looking too happy at the moment. She reached over and took his hand by surprise.

"Wataru," she whispered, "thank you for trying to help me at least. I still think you're a nice big brother." Wataru beamed.

"Thank you Little Sister!" he said happy that Kimi had said such a nice thing to him for once.

He felt more confident he could be the best big brother for Kimi, including maybe having to protect her against the new bully that might cause problems later at school. Something told him he wasn't going to give up on picking on Kimi anytime soon.


	18. Chapter 18

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM

When the family returned to the house after the picnic they were surprised to see Yusuke walking around the living room without his cane.

"Hey how was the picnic?" he asked like it was nothing.

"You're moving around without your cane!" said Ema happily.

"Yeah don't feel like I need it anymore," said Yusuke.

"How are you feeling?" asked Masaomi.

"I'm feeling pretty good for the most part. I've been walking around like this for most of the afternoon," said Yusuake. He started to twist around to really show how good he was feeling.

"That's great," said Masaomi.

"Yeah, now you can start doing your own chores again," said Tsubaki.

"Oh ha-ha-ha," said Yusuke. The brothers and Ema all dispersed to do their thing. Only Kimi stayed in the room with Yusuke.

"Are you really better?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," Yusuke said with a smile. He even knelt down until he was leveled with Kimi. "I'm sure I can come help pick you and Wataru up from school."

"Good," said Kimi. She surprise her big brother with a kiss to his cheek, making his blush a little.

"Kimi, I'm going to draw you a bath. You should go get ready for it," Masaomi called down from the top of the stairs.

"Okay," said Kimi as she hurried upstairs. Masaomi noticed Yusuke holding his back slightly as he stood up.

"Yusuke, I realize you're feeling better but you still got to take it easy with your back the way it is," he said.

"Yeah-yeah," Yusuke said waving his brother off.

* * *

"So Kimi, did you have fun today?" Masaomi said as he and Kimi walked down.

"Uh-huh," said Kimi nodding. She did her best to forget about the part of the boy bullying her and how she was too afraid to even stand up for Wataru. "I'd want to go to that park again. It would have ben fun!"

"Me too!" she and Masaomi heard Wataru shout excited from behind.

"Wataru don't shout too much," said Masaomi.

"Sorry but that was a fun park. Can we go back there Masaomi? Please, please?" Wataru begged.

"We'll see, we'll see if anyone can sapre the time to take the two of you okay?" Masaomi offered.

"Yay!" cheered Wataru.

"Thank you," said Kimi.

"Just make sure you two behave for the rest of the week okay?" said Masaomi.

"Right!" said both children.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't need your cane today?" Ema asked the next morning as everyone got ready for their day.

"I think so. I can't stand all the weird looks I keep getting from everyone walking around with that cane," said Yusuke.

"Got to be careful walking around huh old man?" said Tsubaki.

"Shut up," muttered Yusuke.

"Yusuke," Masaomi said walking up to his brother. He held up a collapsible cane. "Take this with you just in case okay."

"I don't need one anymore," Yusuke insisted.

"Just take it. You can keep it in your bag or something on the safe side okay?" said Masaomi.

"Fine," Yusuke said reluctantly taking the cane and putting it into his bag.

"If you need help or anything let me know. You can lean on me for support okay?" said Ema as she and Yusuke headed to the door together.

"Oh, uh okay," said Yusuke, doing his best to not blush.

"Are you two ready to go?" Masaomi asked Kimi and Wataru.

"Yep," said Kimi.

"Oh yeah," said Wataru.

"Alright let's get going," said Masaomi.

* * *

"Masaomi. do you think we'll be able to go to the park today at all?" asked Wataru as they drove.

"I don't know. You'll have to wait until you're home and see if any of your big siblings are free to take you okay?" said Masaomi.

"Okay," said Kimi.

"Oh," Wataru moaned, "I really want to go!"

"Wataru you should be more like Kimi and not get upset when you don't get something you want," said Masaomi.

"Sorry," said Wataru.

"Well here we are at school," said Masaomi, "You two have a good day."

"Bye," said Kimi as she and Wataru cimbed out of the car.

"Wataru," Masaomi called out before Wataru could get too far, "Be nice to the younger kids today okay? Don't be getting rough with them if they happen to be near Kimi okay?"

"Okay," Wataru promised.

"Good thank you," said Masaomi. He was about to start-up the car when he happened to notice Kimi's teacher walking around the school grounds.

"Miss Hogo, good morning," he called out.

"Oh good morning Mr. Asahina," said Miss Hogo walking over to his car, "How are you this morning?"

"I'm doing good," said Masaomi, "I made sure to talk to my younger brother today about leaving little kids alone that may come near Kimi, regardless if they're in their class or not."

"Good thank you," said Miss Hogo flashing her sweet smile. Masaomi could feel his cheeks getting a big red at looking at the woman smiling.

As Kimi made her way to her classroom she felt something hit her head. She looked down and saw it was a piece of crumbled paper. She looked around and happened to notice the boy from the picnic, Aiji standing nearby with some of his friends laughing and pointing at her. Kimi could feel a slight chill run through her body looking at the boy.

"Kimi, come on," said her friend Mura.

"Coming," said Kimi hurrying after her.

* * *

"Good morning boys and girls," said Miss Hogo once class started, "I hope you all managed to have a good weekend. We're actually going to be starting something fun and exciting today." She hung a photo up on the blackboard behind her. "Can anyone tell me what this is?"

Several children along with Kimi all raised their hands in excitement.

"Uh Kimi, what is it?" Miss Hogo asked.

"It's a zoo," said Kimi.

"That's right," said Miss Hogo, "can anyone tell us what a zoo is?" A bunch of children raised their hands again, "Mura?"

"It's a place where you can see animals," said Mura.

"That's right," said Miss Hogo, "So what kind of animals can you see in a zoo? If you can think of one just shout it out."

"Monkeys!"

"Tigers!"

"Bears!"

"Wolves!"

"Elephants!" Kimi managed to shout out.

"Very good, you all know what to expect when it comes to a zoo. Has anyone ever been to a zoo before?" Miss Hogo asked. Again most of the children raised their hands including Kimi. She got to go to one back when lived at the orphanage.

"That's great to hear, because," Miss Hogo paused as she picked up a few sheets of paper, "We're going to be taking a field trip to zoo this Friday!"

"Yay!" all the kids shouted happily.

"Are you all excited about that?" asked Miss Hogo.

"Yeah!" all the kids shouted again.

"Good because we're going to be doing a lot of fun things between now and when we go to the zoo," said Miss Hogo, "We're going to learn all about the different animals that's we're going to be seeing while there, and each of you are going to help us learn about one of the animals."

"I want to go lions!" one kid started to shout.

"I want to go giraffe!" shouted another.

"Calm down now, clam down," said Miss Hogo, "we're going to do this fairly." She picked up a bucket with a painted picture of a zoo on it, "We're each going to pull out an animal from the bucket and that's the one you get to talk about." She started walking around the circle and offering the bucket to the different children.

"Oh I hope I get a fun animal like the penguins!" said Mura, "I remember seeing penguins the last time my family went to the zoo. They were cute. What one do you want Kimi?"

"I want an elephant, like my favorite toy Beenjee," said Kimi.

"Mura," said Miss Hogo as she stood in front of the little girl with the bucket. Mura took a deep breath as she reached in and took out a piece of paper. She opened it to see a picture of a penguin along with the animal's name.

"Yes I got the penguins!" said Mura happily.

"Glad you like that," said Miss Hogo before moving over to Kimi, "Go ahead Kimi."

Kimi also took a deep breath and reached into the bucket. She opened her slip of paper and saw it had a picture of an elephant along with what Kimi could only conclude was the word elephant.

"Yay!" she said happily, "Elephants!" Miss Hogo gave off a chuckle before moving on to the next child.

"We both got the animal we wanted Kimi! Isn't that great?" said Mura.

"Yeah!" said Kimi excited.

"So does everyone have their animal?" Miss Hogo asked as she came and stood in front of all of the children, "Okay so here is what I would like for you all to do tonight. I want you to all go home and hand draw a picture of the animal you selected and bring it back to class tomorrow okay? You can have the animal doing anything you want. You can have it acting like it normally does or you can make it do something funny, like something it wouldn't do in real life, like maybe have a lion in a swim suite or maybe having a zebra flying an airplane."

The kids laughed at the idea.

"Just have fun with your drawings okay?" sad Miss Hogo, "Now let's go ahead and move on to our next lesson."

* * *

"I'm going to draw my animal on a beach with sunglasses," said Mura after school as the kids all headed out of the classroom.

"I think I'm going to draw mine snow skiing or something," said one of Kimi's other friends Jaja, "That'll be funny."

"I'm going to do mine in the kitchen cooking," said another on of the friends Dai.

"What about you Kimi, what are you going to do?" asked Mura.

"I don't know," said Kimi, "I was thinking maybe I'd draw my animal getting their hair done or maybe singing at a concert, or maybe even playing basketball."

"Those all sound funny," said Mura.

"What sounds funny?"

The group of girls all suddenly lost their good feeling when they happen to see Aiji standing in front of them.

"Well, what's so funny?" Aiji asked again doing his best to make sure he stood tall above the girls.

"I got to go," said Jaja as she hurried off.

"Me too!" said Dai. Soon all the girls except for Mura had hurried off to meet up with their different family members.

"Kimi, we should go," said Mura tugging at Kimi's arm. "This boy can be really mean and scary," she whispered into Kimi's ear.

"But I have to stay here and wait for my big brother and sister," said Kimi timidly.

"You heard her, she has to wait for her brother and sister. So get lost little girl," said Aiji practically shoving Mura away.

"Go ahead Mura," said Kimi. She looked back up at the boy trying hard to hide her fear in face. Aiji smirked at her.

"So what were you and your friends talking about?" he asked.

"We were talking about our new project for class. We have to draw pictures of animals from the zoo," said Kimi still doing her best to sound brave.

"Oh I remember that from last year. I was the best in all the different assignments," Aiji boasted, "What animal did you get?"

"An elephant," said Kimi.

"Hmm, that's what I had too," said Aiji, "I bet yours will be so stupid compared to mine."

"Hey, what are you doing?" asked Wataru suddenly walking up next to Kimi, "You're not doing anything to harass my little sister are you?"

"You can't do anything to me!" Aiji taunted, "You don't want to get in trouble again do you?" Wataru had to do his best to remain calm while dealing with this rude little boy.

"Is there a problem here?" someone asked walking up behind Aiji.

"No!" Aiji snapped turning around, only to loose his over confident look when he saw who it was that standing behind him. It just so happened to be Yusuke. He towered over the boy, unintentionally looking rather intimidating.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!" Aiji asked in a panic.

"I was just here to pick up my brother and sister," said Yusuke.

"Your brother and sister?" said Aij. He turned and looked at Kimi and Wataru, "He's not your brother is he?"

"Yes," said Kimi.

"Ah!" said Aiji as he ran off in fear.

"What's with him?" asked Yusuke.

"It's hard to explain," said Wataru.

"Huh okay," said.

"Hi," said Ema joining Yusuke, "How was your day?"

"Exciting," said Kimi.

"Oh good," said Ema, "You can tell us more about that on the way home okay?"

"Sure," said Kimi. She suddenly felt a lot safer being around her big brother and sister since it didn't seem like that boy Aiji would harass her while they were around.


	19. Chapter 19

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"So Kimi Wataru how was school?" Ema asked as she and Yusuke led their younger siblings home from school.

"Good, I got a great score on our spelling test," said Wataru excited.

"That's good to hear," said Ema, "What about you Kimi?"

"My class is going to the zoo!" said Kimi also excited.

"Oh I remember doing that in elementary school. That's one of the best field trips," sai Ema.

"Miss Hogo even said we get to do something special for the different animals we're going to see there," said Kimi, "We each have one animal we get work on and get what animal I got?!"

"What animal?" asked Ema with smile.

"I got an elephant, just like Beenjee!" said Kimi.

"Oh how cute," said Ema.

"The first thing we have to do is draw a picture of our animal. We can do a serious picture or a funny picture," said Kimi.

"What kind of picture do you think you'd like to draw?" asked Ema.

"I don't know," said Kimi, "I think I want to do a funny one." Ema giggled.

"What kind of funny thing would you want him doing?" she asked.

"I don't know yet," said Kimi.

"I think you should draw a brother and sister elephant!" said Wataru, "You can put the sister with a big pink bow! You really should do that little sister!"

"Let her decide. Don't be going to make decisions for her!" said Yusuke.

"I wasn't!" Wataru insisted right as the siblings all made it home.

"Well I'm sure your picture is going to turn out just fine Kimi," said Ema as she headed to the door, Wataru following close behind.

"Hey," Yusuke said grabbing Kimi's shoulder before she could follow after the two.

"Huh?" said Kimi looking up at him.

"What was with that boy earlier at the school?" Yusuke asked.

"Aiji?" said Kimi.

"Is that his name?" asked Yusuke, "Was he giving you a hard time or something?"

"Well kind of," Kimi admitted timidly.

"Why exactly?" asked Yusuke. Kimi could hear a bit of anger in his voice. It scared her a little. She wasn't sure if she should tell him in case he do something like what Wataru did and get in trouble. Luckily she was offered a salvation when she heard someone else's voice.

"Yusuke what are you doing?" Iori asked as he walked up to the front door himself, "It looks like you're scaring Kimi."

"I was just talking to her," Yusuke insisted.

"Well you don't have to terrify her," said Iori, "Come on Kimi, let's go inside."

"I was just trying to find out something about one of the other kids at the school," said Yusuke.

"Sure," said Iori as he and Kimi kept walking, "How was your day Kimi?"

"Good, we're going to zoo on a field trip!" said Kimi getting excited again.

"Oh super exciting," said Iori, "I have to go tend some of the flowers outside in the courtyard. Do you want to help me?"

"Can I?" asked Kimi.

"Sure, just let me go get changed," said Iori, "And if you want you can go change into some different clothes, ones you don't mind getting dirty."

"Okay," said Kimi. She hurried her to her room and changed into some different clothes. As she changed she noticed the two flowers she got when she first came to her new home weren't looking to good.

'I hope they're okay,' Kimi thought to herself. She quickly hurried outside where she Iori was already out there getting some supplies out of a shed.

"Hey all set?" he asked as he came over to one of the flower beds.

"Yeah, what do you want me to do?" asked Kimi.

"Here," said Iori handing her a trowel. "I need you help put more dirt around some of the loose flowers so they don't fall over. Be careful now."

"Okay," said Kimi as she tried her best to do as Iori told her. She tried the first one and accidentally wound up knocking it over. "Uh-oh!" she said in despair.

"It's okay, easily fixed," said Iori as he carefully set the flower back up. He gently took Kimi's hand, "Here let me show you how to do it." He help guide her gently in how to move the dirt around, "Better?"

"Uh-huh," said Kimi as she managed to help putting the new dirt around the other flowers, managing to not knock any more over.

"Good job thank you for the help Kimi," said Iori, "Do you want to help me water them?"

"Okay," said Kimi. Iori handed her a small watering can.

"Go ahead and water the two smaller beds near the door okay?" he told her.

"Sure," said Kimi carrying the can over and slowly watered the flowers. Soon her can was empty. She walked over to Iori who was watering some of the other flower beds.

"All done," she said.

"Oh good," said Iori, "I'm just about done too." He finished up watering his own bed and looked the bed over. He bent down and slowly pulled one of the flowers out. "Here hold still," he said as he managed to put a flower in Kimi's hair behind her ear, "That looks cute on you." Kimi giggled.

"Thank you," she said.

"How are the flowers in your room doing by the way?" asked Iori as he led her back into the house.

"They're not looking so good at the moment," Kimi admitted.

"Really?" said Iori, "Let's go take a look." He and Kimi headed back to her room where Kimi showed him the vase.

"Hmm," said Iori looking them over, "It just looks like they need some more water. I'm sure they'll be fine." He took the vase with him over to his own room and pulled out a new vase that he filled with water. He carefully placed Kimi's flowers into the new vase."There we go, they're going to be just fine from here on out. In about a week go ahead and come find me so we can get some more water for them okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi. She carefully carried the vase back to her own room and put it back on the window still. She looked at the flowers and smiled at it.

'Iori's so nice,' she thought. Then she got an idea for her picture.

* * *

"So Kimi did anything interesting happen at school today?" asked Masaomi during dinner.

"Miss Hogo said we're going to be taking a field trip to the zoo!" said Kimi excited.

Nearly everyone at the table laughed at her excitement.

"Do you have a permission slip for the field trip?" asked Ukyo.

"Upstairs in my bag," said Kimi.

"Well make sure you get it so one of your big brothers can sign it okay?" said Masaomi.

"Mmmhmm," Kimi agreed with a smile.

"Wasn't there something else you get to do for this field trip Kimi?" asked Ema.

"Oh yes, Miss Hogo says that everyone gets to do something fun with a different animal that we're going to see at the zoo. Today we're suppose to draw a picture of the animal we drew from a hat," said Kimi.

"And what animal did you get?" asked Azusa.

"I got an elephant just like Beenjee!" said Kimi.

"Oh lucky you," said Tsubaki.

"I even got my drawing all done already. Do you wan to see?" asked Kimi.

"Sure, go ahead and get it along with the permission slip okay?" said Masaomi as he helped Kimi down from her seat.

"Okay!" said Kimi as she hurried off to her room.

"It sure does seem that Kimi's getting better at living here with us huh?" said Ema.

"Yes she's adapting pretty well," said Masaomi, "I'm glad. She seemed so scred of being here when she first arrived."

"Well some of us didn't help by always yelling at her," said Yusuke casting a glance at Wataru.

"Are you talking about me?" he asked.

"What do you think?" asked Yusuke.

"Well it wasn't just him though either. There was also that little annoying pop star who told her here was a monster in the room," said Tsubaki.

"Now, now let's not lose focus," said Masaomi, "The point we were trying to make is that Kimi's doing better at living here with us and that's a good thing. It's good to know she's accepting us as her family."

"Hey Masaomi, didn't you say you'd take me and Kimi back to the park this week?" Wataru asked.

"I said we'd try if someone's schedule's clear. I don't know when one of us will have a free moment to spare to take you two okay?" said Masaomi, "but we will try."

"Okay," said Wataru.

"Here it is," said Kimi running back into the dining room and handing Masaomi the permission slip.

"Thank you," said Masaomi looking over the slip, "I'll make sure to get this sign for you okay?"

"Thank you," said Kimi, "Oh and here's my drawing." She held up a drawing of an elephant sanding among several different flowers, holding some and having with one in its ear.

"What do you think?" asked Kimi.

"Oh that's so cute," said Ema.

"I got the idea when I was helping Iori today with his flowers," Kimi explained.

"Oh really?" said Iori.

"You like it Iori?" asked Kimi walking over and showing him the picture up close.

"I love it and I'm sure your teacher's going to like it too," said Iori patting her head.

"What happened to the brother and sister elephant you were going to draw?" asked Wataru.

"Uh well I kind of liked this one better," said Kimi

"Oh but what's wrong with the brother and sister elephant?" Wataru whined.

"Nothing but there's also nothing wrong with Kimi drawing this one either," said Masaomi quickly, "Kimi, go ahead and take your picture back upstairs so it doesn't get ruined or anything okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi as she walked back out of the room.

"Wataru, you don't have to be so hard on Kimi every time she does something she wants to do and not something you want her to do okay?" said Masaomi.

"Okay," said Wataru sulking in his chair.

'Why does she still seem to like the others more than me?' he thought.

* * *

When Kimi got to her room she carefully put her picture back into her school bag to make sure it stayed safe. She thought about Wataru and his apparent desire for her to draw a picture of a brother and sister elephant. She still felt bad that Wataru had gotten in trouble for merely standing up for her against that bully and she hadn't had the courage to stand up for him. She was must have seemed like such a fool and a bad sister. He had been trying the hardest to make her feel welcome, even if he mostly failed miserably. Thinking about it Kimi sat down at her work table and started to draw again.

* * *

"Did anyone know what happened to Kimi after she went to put her drawing away?" asked Ema once the meal was over.

"I guess she didn't come back down from her room," said Azusa.

"Do you think she's okay?" asked Wataru.

"Oh I'm sure she's fine. She was all done with her food anyway and maybe she just assumed she'd stay in her room and play or something," said Ukyo.

"Wataru, remember what I said?" Masaomi spoke up.

"Right," said Wataru.

"Go ahead and get ready for your bath Wataru," said Masaomi, "I'm going to go find Kimi and se if she's ready for hers as well."

Wataru frowned as he walked to his room. However as he came in, he found something waiting for him on his bed, a piece of folded paper. He opened it up to see it was a picture of two elephants. One had a pink bow on its head while the other had a baseball hat on its head. Above each one's head was a drawing was an arrow from two different words, brother and sister.

"Oh did Little Sister draw this for me?!" said Wataru. He raced out of his room in time to see Kimi walking out of her room with Masaomi holding a towel, smiling up at her big brother.

"Little Sister!" Wataru shouted running over to her and hugging her tight, "Thank you for the picture!"

"You liked it?" asked Kimi.

"Oh yes!" said Wataru.

"You drew Wataru a picture huh?" said Masaomi.

"He's a good big brother too," said Kimi. Masaomi patted her head.

"Good for you sweetie," he said patting her head, "Let's go take your bath and Wataru you're suppose to be getting ready for one too, remember?"

"Right," said Watau walking back to his room smiling.

"Kimi drew me a picture! She's really does like me huh?!' he thought proudly.


	20. Chapter 20

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS IN ANYWAY, SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi woke up and stretched her arms high with a smile only to immediately pull them down and rub them instead. It was feeling really cold in her room this morning for some weird reason. She pulled her blankets back around her.

"Kimi are you getting up?" asked Masaomi walking into her room.

"It's cold in here," said Kimi.

"Yes it is isn't it?" said Masaomi, "Well no worries it'll get warmer as the day goes on. Let's get up and going okay?"

"Mmm-hmm," said Kimi as she managed to get herself out of bed.

When Kimi came downstairs she heard Ukyo and Masaomi talking.

"Do you think we should consider turning on the heat just yet?" asked Ukyo.

"No, I think we can wait a little longer. We should probably make sure the little ones start wearing their coats to school," said Masaomi.

"Well I know Wataru needs a new one" said Ukyo, "Maybe we can ask Ema and Yusuke to take him shopping for a new one after school. Do you think Kimi needs one?" asked Ukyo.

"I have a coat," said Kimi walking up to her brothers.

"Oh good morning Kimi," said Ukyo.

"You say you have a coat?" said Masaomi, "Is it upstairs in your closet?"

"It should be," Ukyo answered, "I'll go get it so Kimi can get started on her breakfast."

"Here we go Kimi," said Masaomi helping her into her chair. He gave off a yawn as he did."

"Sleepy?" asked Kimi.

"Oh I had to get up late last night to go take care of something at the hospital I work at. I just got home," said Masaomi yawing again.

"Good morning!" said Wataru walking into kitchen.

"Good morning," said both Kimi and Masaomi.

"Masaomi, can we go to the park today?" asked Wataru.

"I don't know if I can take you today," said Masaomi yawing, "I need to get some sleep before I start a whole new shift later today. Besides I think Ema and Yusuke are going to be taking you shopping after school for a new coat."

"We are?" said Yusuke as he walked into the room along with Ema.

"Sorry I was going to ask you if you could when you pick him and Kimi up from school today," said Masaomi.

"Sure we can," said Ema.

"Good, I'll even give you on one of the family credit cards to use," said Masaomi.

"Sure," said Ema.

"I think it'd be in our best interest to get Kimi a new coat too," said Ukyo walking back into the room holding up a rather old and worn coat.

"But I like my coat," said Kimi. She'd had it for a long time back from the orphanage.

"I know but we don't want you to get sick if it's starting to get cold. It'd be better if we got you a new coat okay?" said Masaomi, "We can even make sure you get you any color you want."

"Like pink?" asked Kimi.

"Of course," said Ema.

"Okay," said Kimi.

* * *

"Kimi, do you have your picture and permission slip ready for school?" Ukyo asked as he helped get her and Wataru ready for school.

"Yep," said Kimi pulling out both from her bag.

"Good, make sure you turn the slip into Miss Hogo. In fact why don't I go ahead and take you to class to make sure she gets it," said Ukyo.

"Okay," said Kimi, not sure if it was weird how insistent Ukyo seemed to be in making sure he come with her to give her teacher her permission slip.

* * *

When the family arrived at the school and Ukyo led Kimi to her class room she noticed Aiji and his friends watching her. Aiji had a little bit of a scowl on his face. It was really intimidating.

Ukyo was surprised when he felt Kimi's grip tighten on his hand.

"Kimi, is something wrong?" he asked.

"Huh?" said Kimi looking up at her brother, "No I'm fine."

"Hmm," said Ukyo as they walked into the school and headed to Kimi's classroom. The room was empty except for Miss Hogo when they came in.

"Good morning," said Ukyo.

"Oh good morning Mr. Asahina," said Miss Hog, "What can I do for you?"

"I just came to make sure that you got Kimi's permission slip for her field trip. She's very excited about it," said Ukyo. He motioned for Kimi to hand it to him.

"Oh thank you," said Miss Hogo, "But you didn't have to come and deliver it yourself. I'm sure Kimi could have turned it in herself."

"Well I wanted to make sure it got turn in. You know how protective us older brothers are," said Ukyo.

"Yes I do," said Miss Hogo, "Having one myself. So thank you for this. I will see you later sir.

"Alright, bye now Kimi," said Ukyo as he left.

"Bye," said Kimi. She noticed Ukyo looking back at Miss Hogo who was busy filing Kimi's permission slip. It felt a little weird to her seeing him do that for some reason.

* * *

"and so I drew the penguins on a beach with sunglasses," said Mura showing the class her picture.

"Very good Mura," said Miss Hogo, "Go ahead and put it on to the desk so we can hag it up around the room okay? Who would like to show their picture next?" Several children raised their hands, "Kimi?" Kimi eagerly got up and walked to the front of the class, "And what animal did you draw Kimi?"

"An elephant," said Kimi showing her drawing, "I drew mine picking flowers and even put one in its ear just like my brother Iori did. I was helping him take care of the flowers at our house yesterday and he was nice in putting a flower in my hair."

"Oh that sounds so nice," said Miss Hogo, "Go ahead and put your picture down on the desk with the others."

Kimi quickly went and sat back down next to Mura.

"Your other brother sounds really nice too," Mura whispered, "Why can't your other brother who goes to this school be as nice?"

"He just wants to be protective of me I think," said Kimi.

"Kimi, Mura please be nice and pay attention," said Miss Hogo.

"Sorry," said both girls.

Soon the other students all presented their pictures. All were really funny and cute.

* * *

"You all did very good with your pictures," Miss Hogo praised, "Now we're going to do our next assignment. We've all seen the funny pictures with our animals. Now I think we should focus on what the animals. So tonight I want you to find a real picture of your animal and bring it to class tomorrow. You can ask your mommies or daddies or even big brothers," she turned and winked at Kimi as she said that. All the children giggled at that, "For help in finding a picture. Make sure it's a real picture okay and not a fake one okay? Now let's go ahead and turn our attention to our next lesson."

* * *

"Come on let's get going," Yusuke insisted to Ema after school.

"You seemed really anxious to pick up the little ones," said Ema.

"Well I just want to hurry up and get the kids alright?" said Yusuke. The truth was he was anxious to get to the school in case that boy from yesterday was going to try to harass Kimi again.

"Are you eager to get the shopping done as soon as possible?" asked Ema.

"Oh are we going shopping?" the two suddenly heard Futo ask as he seemed to come out nowhere and grabbed Ema's arm, pulling her to him.

"Hey!" Yusuke shouted. Futo however wrapped his other arm around Ema and nearly pinned her to the wall.

"What are you hoping to buy, Big Sis?" he asked.

"Uh we have to take Wataru and Kimi clothes shopping for some new coats," said Ema abit timidly.

"Oh you're going clothes shopping huh?" said Futo, "Why didn't you say so sooner? I should go with you to help. Who has better fashion sense than me? Wouldn't you agree?"

"Uh well," Ema sputtered.

"And who knows what else we may find while we're shopping. Maybe something you can wear for me personally huh Big Sis?" said Futo moving his face closer to Ema's.

"Huh?!" said Ema in alarm.

"Will you get off her already?!" Yusuke shouted pulling Futo off. He felt his back twitch in pain as he did.

"Hey watch the hair!" Futo shouted .

"I will shave your hair if I catch you doing anything else stupid with her got it?!" Yusuke threatened.

"Oh please, I could pull that off easily," said Futo, "Now then we were going to pick up the kids to take them shopping?"

"Don't tell me you're actually coming," Yusuke moaned. Futo pulled out his sunglasses and dawned his cover coat.

"Oh yes I am definitely coming," he said with a smirk.

"Great," muttered Yusuke.

* * *

"Have a good day children. Don't forget your real pictures of your animals for tomorrow," said Miss Hogo waving to the kids as they headed out at the end of the day, "Oh Kimi?" Kimi stopped when she heard her named called out and saw her teacher motioning her to back over to her. Kimi slowly walked over to her wondering what her teacher wanted. Miss Hogo waited until all the other children were gone before she spoke.

"I just wanted to say I'm very impressed with your picture," said Miss Hogo,"I actually think it's the best in the class. You did a very good job."

"Oh really?" said Kimi looking at her drawing up on the wall. She didn't realize it looked that nice but she supposed it was fairly good. "Thank you," she said to her teacher and bowing her head as she walked out.

As Kimi came out she was met with a crumpled piece of paper hitting her face again.

"Ha-ha, see she as such a stupid face it's so easy to hit," she heard Aiji say. Kimi did her best to ignore the boys and head to the usual spot that she needed to meet her brothers and sister.

"Where are you going dumb face?" Aiji taunted as he and his friends followed. Kimi could feel another piece of paper hitting the back of her head. He kept calling out as he followed him.

"Dumb face, Dumb face."

'I wish he'd go away,' Kimi thought.

"Dumb face?" she suddenly heard Aiji say not sounding too happy all of a sudden.

Kmi looked up and realized Yusuke had arrived along with Ema and even Futo. Yusuke crossed his arms and shook his head no at the boy and his friends.

"Let's go!" Aiji insisted as he ran away hastily.

"What was that all about?" Futo asked.

"I think that boy has taken to possibly picking on Kimi for some stupid reason," said Yusuke.

"Isn't that the boy from the picnic that everyone was saying Wataru as picking on?" Ema asked out loud.

"What happened?" Yusuke asked.

"Uh well Wataru was accused of picking on that boy for some reason I think. I didn't get a good look at the boy personally," said Ema.

"Really?" said Futo.

"Futo, you're here too!" Wataru shouted when he saw his brothers and sister were here.

"Well someone has to make sure you're as stylish as me right?" said Futo, "What do you think of that Little Sister? You get free fashion advice from one of the most popular pop idols around huh?"

"Uh okay," said Kimi. She walked over to Ema and took her hand.

"Do you still want to get a pink coat Kimi?" Ema asked.

"I'd like a pink one," said Kimi.

"Pink? Pink is out. We need a more hipper color like maroon or black," said Futo.

"She's a kid not a model," said Yusuke.

"Who's the fashion expert here? Trust me I think I know what I'm talking about," Futo insisted.

"But what if I don't want black?" asked Kimi timidly.

"Don't worry Kimi I'm sure we can find you a coat you like even pink if we have to okay?" Ema promised.

"Okay," said Kimi feeling good knowing she had her big sister to support her.


	21. Chapter 21

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

"Here you go Kimi try this one on," Ema said when they group arrived at the clothing store. Ema held up a pink jacket just Kimi's size with a blue lining.

"Oh pretty," said Kimi. She heard Futo give off a groan from where he was standing off to the side.

"I keep telling you pink is not the way to go," he muttered.

"And no one asked for your opinion," said Yusuke as he flipped through a rack of coats meant for boys, "Here, you might like this one." He handed Wataru a dark blue coat that had a light blue bunny patch on the front.

"Yay, it has a bunny on it!" Wataru shouted with joy.

"Good, let' get it and get out of here," said Yusuke.

"Well hang on," said Ema, "Kimi is this the coat you want? You don't have to get just because it's pink."

"No I like this one," said Kimi.

"Here why don't you try it on then," said Ema, "Futo can you hold Kimi's backpack for her?

"Shh not so loud! Do you want to give me away?!" Futo shouted.

"Just shut up and hold the bag!" Yusuke ordered.

"You hold the bag!" Futo retorted.

"I'll hold it!" Wataru offered.

"Thank you Wataru," said Ema handing him Kimi's backpack and helping the little girl put on the coat. "Does it fit okay Kimi?"

"Yeah!" said Kimi happily looking over the coat on her. It felt really comfortable as well, "I want this one!"

"Okay," said Ema smiling. Kimi noticed both Yusuke and Futo both stopped their fighting when they noticed Ema was smiling and were slightly blushing. She thought it was a bit weird but guess sometimes brothers did that.

"Okay and Wataru are you sure that's the coat you want?" Ema asked her little brother.

"Yay, I love the bunny on it!" said Wataru.

"Do you want to try it on first?" Ema asked.

"Can I hold your bag Wataru?" Kimi offered.

"Don't worry about it I'll hold it," said Yusuke as he took both bags.

"Oh please, I'll hold it," said Futo, "We shouldn't make you strain your back now would we?"

"It's only like that seeing as how you're the reason I had to climb the tree!" said Yusuke.

Kimi trembled at seeing her brothers arguing.

"So Wataru does it fit?" asked Ema.

"Yeah!" said Wataru "I get a coat with a bunny! I get a coat with a bunny!" Ema giggled.

"Okay we'll go pay for them," she said. She took both coats to the check out to pay for both and let both children wear their new coats out of the store.

"We look so great don't we?!" said Wataru with pride as he walked down the street.

"If you say so," said Yusuke, "I'm surprised how quickly it went. At least it didn't take all afternoon and we can get some of our homework done."

"Uh Ema?" Kimi suddenly spoke up. She remembered what Miss Hogo had asked the class to d that day.

"Yes?" Ema asked.

"Can you help you get a picture of a real elephant?" Kimi asked.

"What do you need that for?" asked Futo.

"It's for class. We're going to the zoo and Miss Hogo wants us to learn about the animals we're going to see," said Kimi.

"A zoo field trip really? Those are so boring," said Futo.

"Don't worry Kimi I'll help you find a real elephant photo okay?" Ema promised, If not me, then one of our other brothers can okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi with a smile.

* * *

"We're home," said Ema walking into the house. Only Azusa and Tsubaki were there at the moment.

"We got our new coats!" said Wataru excited.

"Oh look at them," said Tsubake, "you two are looking stylish!"

"Do you know if Ukyo is home? Should Itry to get started on dinner for everyone?" asked Ema.

"Well we just got home and we haven't heard from him," said Azusa.

"Oh I should at least go ahead and get started on it then," said Ema.

"But what about my elephant picture?" asked Kimi.

"Oh I'm sure I can help you with that after dinner," said Ema.

"What's this about an elephant picture?" asked Azusa.

"I need a real elephant picture to take to school tomorrow," said Kimi.

"Oh I see, well I can help you with that," said Azusa leading Kimi to the stairs.

"I can do it! I can do it!" Wataru insisted.

"Wataru, don't you have your own homework to do as well?" asked Azusa. Wataru groaned slightly annoyed, "You should go do some of it before dinner."

Soon Kimi and Azusa came to Azusa's room and Azusa got onto his computer. Kimi stood next to his desk and watched him work.

"Okay Kimi here we go," said Azusa finally. He picked her up and put her onto his lap, "Go ahead and pick whichever elephant you want."

"Uh well," Kimi said out loud as she looked at the picture. Then she saw one that had a brown elephant standing next to a tree. It reminded her of Bennjee. "That one!" she insisted.

"Okay, we'll just print that out," said Azusa selecting the picture and hitting print.

"Thank you Azusa!" said Kimi once the picture was printed giving him a hug.

"Oh no big deal," said Azusa. Both were distracted by the sound of hissing and saw Juli had somehow appeared on the desk in front of the computer.

"What's his problem now?" Azusa asked, "Ema's not even here."

"What do you think you're doing in here with Little Chi?!" Juli demanded to know.

"Azusa's just helping me with my homework Juli," said Kimi quickly showing him the picture Azusa had just printed out.

"Hmm that better be it," said Juli jumping onto Kimi's shoulder, "Is Chi home?"

"She's downstairs helping with dinner," said Kimi.

"How many wolves are down there?" Juli asked in alarm.

"I don't know about wolves but at least four of my brothers are down there," said Kimi.

"I got to get down there right away!" said Juli as he dashed out of the room.

"I swear that thing is seriously high sprung.," said Azusa, "Well anyway was there any other homework you need to get done Kimi?"

"No," said Kimi.

"Why don't you go play then or go see if Ema needs some help," Azusa suggested putting her down, "Just don't forget to put your photo in a safe in your backpack for school tomorrow okay?"

"Okay," said Ema as she hurried off back downstairs where she left her bag.

When she came down she found Ukyo in the kitchen talking an cooking together. She poke her head in to see them both working on the cooking with Juli on Ema's shoulder.

"I'll try to be better next time in letting you know if I'm going to be super late and you have to start on dinner," Ukyo said.

"It's fine I really don't mind," said Ema.

"Well I appreciate that because I may be late quite often this week and next week due to my case I'm working on," said Ukyo.

"Don't worry I can handle making dinner for anytime you need it," Ema assured him.

"Thank you I appreciate that," said Ukyo moving over to the schedule and looking at it, "It looks like Masaomi is going to be doing a lot of night shifts as well. I don't know how much we'll be seeing of him at this point."

"Oh that's too bad," said Ema, "Does anyone else have a really busy schedule?"

"Oh nothing too serious, but it does look like everyone's going to be busy for a while," said Ukyo.

"I guess this doesn't mean we're going back to the park anytime soon huh?" Kimi asked.

"Oh Kimi I didn't realize you were," said Ukyo, "And unfortunately it doesn't look like no park at the moment."

"Oh that's okay," said Kimi.

"No, no it's not okay!" insisted Wataru suddenly running into the kitchen, "I want to go back to the park! I wan to go back to the park!"

"Wataru," said Ema as she walked over to her little brother, "You'll have to be patient and wait. I'm sure at some point we'll make it to the park."

"Hmm!" Wataru muttered in disappointed.

"Don't worry Wataru, I'm sure at one point we'll make it back there," said Kimi.

"There see Wataru, Kimi understands. You should try acting more like her once and a while," said Ukyo.

"Okay I'll try," said Wataru.

"Wataru, why don't you and Kimi go and play until dinner's ready," Ema suggested. Wataru perked up at that.

"Yeah! Let's go Little Sister!" he insisted.

"Okay, what will we play?" asked Kimi as she and Wataru headed back upstairs.

"I think we should try doing something loud and fun!" said Wataru.

"Hmm I better go with them just in case," said Juli as he jumped from Ema's shoulder and onto Kimi's, "Don't let your guard down Chi."

"Oh Juli," said Ema.

"I don't want to do something loud," said Kimi, "I kind of want to play with my tea set."

"Sure, I'll be the daddy then and you can be the mommy!" said Wataru.

"Hmm, now I'm glad I came along!" said Juli, "That kind of play just leads to trouble!"

* * *

Kimi sat and watched Wataru drink his "tea". He seemed happy enough at least and not upset over not going to the park.

"Wataru are feeling better now?" she asked.

"Yeah, playing with you always makes me feel better!" said Wataru, "Don't you think so?"

"Yeah," Kimi agreed with a smile.

"I'd feel better if we were at the park though," Wataru suddenly added.

"Don't worry we will remember?" said Kimi.

"But I really liked that park, even if we had to deal with that bully," said Wataru.

"Yeah him," said Kimi.

"Hmm?" said Juli as he listened.

"Is he still being mean to you at school?" asked Wataru.

"It's not that bad," said Kimi.

"I should teach him a lesson!" said Wataru.

"No Wataru, you'll just get into trouble!" said Kimi, "It's fine really!"

'Hmm,' Juli thought, 'So Little Chi is having problems with a bully huh? Looks like I'll have to protect her from another wolf!'


	22. Chapter 22

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"All set and ready for school?" Ukyo asked as he got Kimi and Wataru ready the next morning.

"Yep," said Kimi looking down at her new coat.

"I bet everyone's going to like and be envious of our new coats!" said Wataru.

"Jeez, it's just a new coat. It's not like it's a new fashion statement or something," said Yusuke as he and Ema came to the front door as well.

"But we look really good in them right?" said Wataru.

"Of course you do, both of you," said Ema with a smile, "We'll see you both after school okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi. However as everyone was about to leave they were surprised to see Masaomi walking into the house. He immediately gave off a huge yawn.

"Oh welcome home Masaomi," said Ema.

"Oh good morning everyone," said Masaomi in a really tired voice.

"Are you just now getting home?" asked Ukyo.

"Afraid so, I had to cover a double shift at the hospital," said Masaomi, "I'm going to go lie down."

"Don't do something like Louis does and just lay down anywhere you feel like," said Ukyo.

"Yes yes," sad Masaomi as he headed down the hallway.

"Poor Masa," said Kimi.

"Oh it's okay," Ukyo assured her, "It happens sometimes when you're an adult . He'll be just fine I promise."

"Okay," said Kimi as she and the rest of her family walked out of the house.

* * *

Upstairs in Ema's room, Juli was sleeping peacefully on Ema's bed when he heard what sounded like a car starting.

"Hmm?" he said as he woke up. He raced over to the window in time to see Kimi driving off in Ukyo's car.

"No Little Chi!" he shouted as he pounded at the door, "Chi why didn't you wake me up when you got up as well?! I have to protect Little Chi at school! Little Chi come back!"

* * *

"Have a good day at school you too," said Ukyo as he dropped Kimi and Wataru off at their school.

"Thank you Ukyo," said Kimii, "bye."

"Bye-bye Ukyo," said Wataru. The two walked across the school campus together when suddenly they heard Kimi's friend Mura calling out to her.

"Good morning Kimi!" she shouted as she ran to her.

"Good morning Mura!" Kimi shouted back running over to her leaving Wataru behind.

"Oh," Wataru moaned in disappointment.

"Did you remember your picture Kimi?" Mura asked, "My daddy helped me get mine."

"My big brother Azusa helped me with mine, " said Kimi.

"I wish I could meet all of your brothers! They all sound so cool!" said Mura. Kimi actually blushed at that comment. She was getting more and more use to having her brothers.

Suddenly out of nowhere Kimi was caught off guard when she was pushed over from behind.

"Kimi!" said Mura in surprise quickly kneeling next to her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I think so," said Kimi . She could hear laughing behind her and turn to see Aiji and his friends all laughing at her.

"Oops, sorry," Aiji said in a mocking tone, "I hope your coat didn't get dirty or anything." Kimi looked down at her new coat and saw that she actually did happen to have a little dirt stain on it.

"Oh," she moaned, "My new coat."

"Ha-ha!" Aiji laughed even harder. He was laughing so loudly now that Wataru happen to hear and immediately ran over to him.

"Hey, you're not harassing my little sister are you?!" he asked. Aiji looked around in a panic.

"Uh," he sputtered, "teacher, teacher help, this boy's harassing me again!"

"What's going on here?" asked a random teacher walking over to the group.

"This mean boy's harassing me!" said Aiji pointing his finger at Wataru.

"Young man is that true?" asked the teacher.

"Uh well," Wataru tried to explain.

"Teacher," Mura tried to speak up.

"Girls, you two go to class now," said the teacher as she ushered the two small children. She didn't seem to really take notice of Kimi being on the ground.

"But," both girls tried to protest.

"Run along, this doesn't concern you two I'm sure," said the teacher. The two girls walked on by themselves. Kimi again hanged her head in shame.

"I hope Wataru doesn't get into too much trouble again," she said softly.

"Don't worry, that boy's always really mean," said Muraa.

* * *

"Good morning boys and girls," said Miss Hogo once class started, "How's everyone today?"

"Good," said all of students.

"That's wonderful to hear. Now did you all remember to bring your real life pictures of your animals?" All the students held up their pictures. "Good job, let's go ahead and let you say what's in your picture. Who would like to go first?" All the boys and girls raised their hands, "Uh Kimi how about you?"

Kimi stood up in front of the class with the picture in her hand.

"My big brother Azusa helped me find this one of the brown elephant by the tree. I really like this one because it looks Beenjee my favorite toy," she said holding it up.

"Oh that sounds really sweet and it's a very nice picture," said Miss Hogo, "Please put the picture on the table over there. Who's next? Mura how about you?"

* * *

"You all did really well with your pictures. I'm very proud of you all," said Miss Hogo once everyone was done, "Now we're going to move onto our next assignments. This you're going to have to do some work on. This assignment you're going to have to work on. I want you find out something your animal eats and either bring it or a picture of it to school tomorrow if it's too hard to bring to school." The kids all seemed like to idea. "Now let's move on to the next lesson.

* * *

"What do you think penguins eat?" Mura asked as the girls ate their lunch.

"I don't know," said Kimi, "Maybe they eat snow since they live where it's really cold?"

"You think?" asked Mura.

"Maybe your daddy can help you find out," said Kimi.

"Yeah Daddy's really smart!" said Mura, "I'm sure he can find out what they eat."

What do you think elephants eat?" asked Kimi.

"That's easy," said another friend, Dai, "They eat peanuts."

"Oh yeah, everyone knows that," said Jaja.

"Oh I can bring those to school, easily!" said Kimi. Just then she noticed Wataru walking around looking sad.

"Excuse me," she said quickly walking over to her brother, "Wataru, are you okay? Did you get in trouble again by that mean boy?"

"Oh Kimi no," said Wataru as he patted her head, "The teacher just asked me to not to bother that boy again if I can."

"Are you sure?" asked Kimi.

"Yeah," said Wataru.

"Okay, I'm going to go back and eat with my friends okay?" said Kimi as she walked off.

"Bye," said Wataru waving to her. He turned to find a place to eat again when suddenly he noticed Aiji and his friends. He smirked over at Wataru in his usual fashion.

'One of these days I'm going to make sure he get's it!' Wataru thought.

* * *

"Hi Kimi, hi Wataru," Ema asked when she and Yusuke showed up to pick the two up.

"Hi," said both little kids.

"Are you ready to go home?" asked Ema.

"Uh-huh," said Wataru.

"Can we go to the grocery store?" asked Kimi.

"What do you need to go there for?" asked Ema.

"I need to get some peanuts for my next school assignment," said Kimi, "We need to bring something that our animal eats."

"Oh I see, we can definitely stop and get some peanuts then," said Ema, "Right Yusuke?" Yusuke didn't respond. Instead he kept looking around really concentrating. "Yusuke?" Ema said tapping him on his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"Huh oh yeah, let's get going already," said Yusuke.

"Can we get a treat while we're at the store?" Wataru asked as they left.

"Sure we can," said Ema, "Maybe we can find something for everyone."

"Hey," Yusuke said suddenly reaching over and grabbing Kimi's shoulder, "You didn't have any trouble today with that boy again did you?"

"Well," said Kimi looking down at her coat that still had the small stain on her coat . Yusuke gave off an angry groan. Something told him Kimi had some sort of encounter with that boy again.

"One of these days, if I catch him in the act he's going to pay!" he declared.

"Huh?!" said Kimi not really liking the angry tone of Yusuke's voice.

"Uh I mean you really shouldn't' t be afraid of him. I'll protect you from him if you ever need it," he said sheepishly.

"Kimi, Yusuke are you coming?" asked Ema.

"Oh yeah we're coming," said Yusuke as he took Kimi's hand and led her off to help catch up.

* * *

"We're home," said Ema when the four all walked in.

"Oh welcome home," said Kaname who was sitting in the big living room with Louis, "What's with the big bag of peanuts?"

"They're for my homework. We have to bring in something our animal eats," said Kimi.

"Oh I thought possibly they were for Juli," said Louis.

"Juli?" said Ema.

"Yes, he seems kind of mad about something," said Louis.

"Oh dear," said Ema rushing off to her room to see what could be wrong with her little friend.

"I'll come too. Maybe he'll like a peanut," said Kimi following her.

"Oh Wataru," said Louis, "we got a call from the school today."

"Are you still picking fights with little kids or something?" asked Kaname.

"No it wasn't like that!" Wataru kept insisting.

"Hey," Yusuke asked tapping his little brother on his shoulder, "You're not talking about the same boy who's been harassing Kimi are they?"

"Anytime try to help her he calls for help and makes me look like I'm the bad guy!" said Wataru upset.

"Hmm, that kid really needs a whopping I think!" said Yusuke.


	23. Chapter 23

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

"Juli?" said Ema as she and Kimi came into her room. There they found Juli running around on her bed like crazy chirping the whole time. "Juli what's the matter?"

Juli immediately stopped his running at the sound of Ema's voice. "Chi!" he said mad, "Why didn't you wake me this morning?!"

"You looked so worn out I thought it was best to let you sleep," said Ema.

"Best to let me sleep?!" said Juli, "I was suppose to go with Little Chi to school today to protect her from whatever it is that's troubling her!"

"Protect me?" said Kimi moving out from behind Ema.

"Little Chi!" said Juli running over to her and jumping onto her shoulder, "Did you have problems today in school? Did anyone hurt you?! I'll see to it that they pay if they did!"

"Uh well," Kimi sputtered.

"Kimi, are things going okay at school?" asked Ema concern.

"Well," Kimi said looking at her sister's honest face, "there's this boy...,"

"A wolf! I knew it!" said Juli.

"Juli calm down and let Kimi speak," said Ema, "Go ahead Kimi. Is this the same boy from yesterday?"

"Yes, and from the picnic," said Kimi, "Aiji, he, he keeps picing on me for no reason. He's really mean to me and to Wataru when he tries to help me ,just like he did back at the picnic!" At that Kimi started to cry.

"Kimi!" said Ema holding her close, "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry!" Kimi said, "I didn't mean to get Wataru in trouble! He didn't do anything wrong! He was trying to help me! Aiji stole my cookie and Wataru tried to get it back for me! I didn't know what to say and Wataru got into trouble for no reason! I didn't want Wataru to get in trouble! Wataru may be loud all the time but he's still nice! He must hate me now!"

"Shh, I don't think Wataru hates you!" said Ema, "And I'm sure he would feel better if you told Masaomi the whole truth. I bet he and the others would understand and even try helping you with that boy."

"You think so?" asked Kimi. She wiped away some of the tears in her eyes.

"Of course, you should have faith in your big brothers okay?" said Ema helping to wipe away some of the tears as well, "Should we go see if Masaomi's awake and talk to him about it?"

"Okay," said Kimi. Ema was kind enough to pick Kimi up and carry her outside of her room with Juli moving to Ema's shoulder.

"See Chi I told you, wolves are nothing but trouble!" he said.

"Something tells me this boy is not a thing like our brothers," said Ema, "Let's go and find Masaomi. I hope he's not still resting. I'd hate to wake him."

"Oh look, there he goes," said Juli pointing down the hallway where they saw Masaomi heading down fast. Ema did her best to try and catch up to him.

"Masaomi," she tried calling out as he got into the elevator. "Oh, no worries we'll just catch up to him downstairs."

"Would it be easier to put me down?" asked Kimi.

"Maybe," said Ema putting Kimi back down to the ground and hurrying to the stairs. By the time they got to the top they could hear Masaomi's voice.

"Wataru," the two heard him say, "I got another phone call from school today."

"Yeah we already talked to him about it," said Kaname.

"Wataru, what has gotten into you recently? You use to be such a nice boy," said Masaomi.

"It's not his fault!" Kimi shouted from the top. The five brothers all looked at her and Ema.

"Kimi?" said Masaomi suprised.

Kimi hurried downstairs and actually flung herself at Wataru. "Wataru's not a bad person!" she insisted, "He's been trying to help me!"

"Kimi, is there something going on?" asked Masaomi kneeling down to Kimi's level.

"Wataru," Kimi was having a hard time finding her voice all of sudden again. Not only was Masaomi looking at her seriously but so was Kaname, Louis, Yusuke and Wataru.

"Kimi, it's okay. Just try and tell Masaomi the same way you told me," Ema said hurrying down the stairs and came to stand next to her.

"Wataru's been trying to help me because a boy from school, the same boy from the picnic is being mean to me," Kimi started to say.

"So that little punk has been picking on you!" said Yusuke.

"Yusuke, shush," said Masaomi, "Let Kimi talk. Go ahead Kimi, You say that boy from the picnic is being mean to you?"

"He was being mean to me back at the picnic. He stole the cookie from me and Wataru was only trying to help me get it back. I, I was scared of the boy that I didn't do anything to say why Wataru was doing what he was doing ," said Kimi. Tears started to form in her eyes, "I'm sorry! I didn't want Wataru to get in trouble!"

"It's alright Little Sister!" said Wataru as he hugged Kimi tight.

"Every time Wataru has gotten in trouble is was just because that boy was being mean to me!" Kimi kept going on, "like today he pushed me over and stained my new coat."

"I see," said Masaomi.

"I think in the long run we should have known Wataru's not one to really do something so evil like that out of the blue," said Louis.

"Yes you're right," said Masaomi, "Wataru, we're really sorry we didn't believe you when you kept trying to tell us the truth."

"I'm just happy that Little Sister really like me!" said Wataru.

"We'll do our best to make it up you Wataru," said Masaomi.

"Can we go back to that park?!" asked Wataru.

"I would love nothing more, when we can find the time," said Masaomi, "But maybe we can find something else."

"How about another treat tomorrow after school?" suggested Ema.

"Sure that sounds like a good idea," said Masaomi, "And Kimi I'm going to talk to your principle first chance I can or have Ukyo do it when he has a free time."

"I can do it," Kaname offered, "I'll be off tomorrow morning. I can talk to the principle."

"You sure?" asked Masaomi.

"Of course, what kind of big brother or monk would I be if I can't help my little brother and sister in a time of need?" asked Kaname with a smirk.

"Alright thank you," said Masaomi, "Just don't get too flirty with any of the female teachers?"

"I can't help it if the gods draw them to me," said Kaname.

"Yeah I bet," said Yusuke.

"Kimi, I know you didn't mean to let Wataru get into trouble like that. So you don't have to worry about it alright? It can be scary sometimes to stand up to someone bigger than you," said Masaomi patting her head.

"Okay," said Kimi. She looked up and smiled at Wataru who was still hugging her.

"I'm not mad at you either little sister! I never was and I'll never let a real bully treat you bad again," said Wataru.

"It's good Kimi could come out and say what was on her mind about that boy picking on her like that," said Ema.

"I'm still going to do all I can to protect her tomorrow! That evil bully's probably not going to give up easily!" said Juli.

* * *

The next morning when Ema woke up she saw that Juli was awake and waiting at the door to her room.

"Juli, you're up already?" She asked in surprise.

"I had to get up on my own to make sure I am able to go with Little Chi to school!" said Juli.

"You're still going on about that?" asked Ema as she got dressed, "You know pets aren't usually allowed to go to school without permission."

"This is a serious matter Chi! Someone has to protect Little Chi!" said Juli.

"And how are you going to get to Kimi's school today?" asked Ema.

"Don't worry I'll get there!" said Juli.

"Just don't do anything that'll get Kimi into trouble please," said Ema opening the door to her room.

"I won't, I promise!" said Juli running out as fast as he could.

"Juli?" said Ema as he ran off. She wondered what he was up to.

"Good morning Big Sister," said Kimi as she came up to Ema.

"Oh good morning," said Ema with a smile, "Are you feeling better about going to school today?"

"Yeah," said Kimi with a smile, "I can't wait to show my peanuts to everyone for my project." Ema giggled at that."You know I forgot to offer one to Juli."

"Oh he's off somewhere trying to find a way to go to school with you," said Ema as she and Kimi headed downstairs.

"But he can't come to school. It's against the rules," said Kimi.

"I know but sometimes Juli can be really stubborn," said Ema with a sigh.

* * *

"Hmm," Juli said as he came to the front door where Kimi and Wataru's backpacks were waiting. He sniffed at both of them, "This one must be Little Chi's!" he said recognizing Kimi's scent. He climbed into one of the big pockets of the bag. "I'll be in here the whole time and no one will know I'm sure! I'll make sure Little Chi's safe no matter what!" He suddenly got a scent of something else familiar. "Oh Little Chi has peanuts in here!"

* * *

"So how does it feel getting to take be taken to school by your cool older brother?" Kaname asked as Kimi and Wataru came to the front door and picked up their backpacks. Ema and Yusuke were there too.

"Let's just hope you don't do anything that will cause Masaomi or I to have to come to the school and explain you," said Ukyo as he too came to the door, "I really need to get going."

"Do you need to me to cook dinner tonight Ukyo?" Ema asked as he hurried out.

"Could you please?" Ukyo asked in a hurry, "I promise that I will do my best to make sure you get a break from it soon!"

"It's alright, I really don't mind," Ema called back.

"How kind of you Little Sister," said Kaname. "You know I'm willing to give you a personal ride to school if you need it."

"Oh god!" Yusuke muttered, "Where that squirrel when you need him?!"

"Yeah where is Juli?" asked Kimi looking up at Ema.

"I don't know," said Ema, "We should get going before he comes and try to come with you to school."

"Why would he want to do that?" asked Wataru.

"He thinks he can help protect her," Ema said.

"How is he going to do that?" asked Yusuke.

"Juli's very determined," said Ema.

"But he's nice," said Kimi picking up her bag.

"Of course he is," Ema agreed.

* * *

"Mmm," Juli moaned as he finished his third peanut from Kimi's bag. There was still plenty to spare. He was surprised by the sudden shake as he felt himself being lifted up.

"Oh Little Chi must be heading to school," he said, only to suddenly feel himself being tossed around. "Maybe this wasn't the best way to travel, but it'll be worth it to protect Little Chi!"


	24. Chapter 24

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

Both Kimi and Wataru were quiet as they were driven to school by Kaname.

"Hey what's going on with you two? Why are two playful kids like you being so quiet?" he asked.

"Are you really going to talk to the principle about this boy Kaname?" Wataru asked.

"You bet I am. I'm going to sort this whole messy thing out no problem," said Kaname.

"Do you think Wataru will stop getting in trouble because of him?" asked Kimi.

"Oh yes, I can be very persuasive," Kaname said with a wink and a smile.

"Well hopefully this means that Juli won't want to come to school with me again," said Kimi.

"That little guy sure seems to think highly of himself to think he can take on anyone," said Kaname.

"He scratches you a lot doesn't he?" said Kimi.

"Oh he doesn't do that because he doesn't like me. I'm sure he does it as way to show me love," said Kaname.

'Love?' thought Juli still listening from Kimi's backpack, 'He's one of the worst!'

"Are you sure about that?" asked Kim.

"Of course, who can't love this face?" asked Kaname.

Then why does he call you a wolf?" asked Kimi.

"Hmm?" said Kaname, "Wolf?" Before Kimi could explain Kaname pulled up to the school.

"Oh here we are, let's get going you two," Kaname said as he climbed out. Both Kimi and Wataru grabbed their bags and started to get out as well.

Inside the bag Juli could feel himself being tossed around again.

'Here we go again!' he thought with misery.

* * *

"So where is this boy?" Kaname asked as he walked on to the school campus with Kimi and Wataru, making sure to hold Kim's hand.

"Right there," said Wataru pointing to the boy who had just arrived being escorted by his father.

"Hmm," Kaname murmured, "I know his type. He must be one of those only children who thinks he can get his way all the time. Well no matter, let's get you two to class."

"I can go to class by myself," said Wataru, "I am a big boy after all."

"I know, go ahead then," said Kaname, "Shall we little sister?" The two walked down the hallway until they came upon Kimi's classroom. No one was in there yet except for Mis Hogo. She turned her head at the sound of door opening.

"Oh Kimi good morning," she said with a smile.

"Good morning," said Kimi.

"A fine good morning to you Madam," said Kaname.

"I take it this is another brother Kimi?" asked Miss Hogo.

"Yes this is Kaname," said Kimi.

"Oh yeah, I saw you at the picnic. You were the one flirting with all the different women," said Miss Hogo.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself to you at the picnic," said Kaname kissing her hand.

"Well I'm sure you'd think differently if my brother had seen you coming near me," said Miss Hogo.

"Oh your brother huh?" said Kaname.

"He's really big," said Kimi.

"Oh," said Kaname, "Well I suppose I should consider going to do what I came here for. It was nice meeting you my deal lady. Please continue to look after my littler sister."

Of course I will," said Miss Hogo. She looked down at Kimi with a smirk, "Your brother sure seem interesting. What does he do?"

"He's a monk," said Kimi.

"He is?" said Miss Hogo in surprise. She was distracted as other children all started to come into the classroom as well.

"Hi Kimi," said Mura running over to her, "Guess what?"

"What?" asked Kimi.

"I found out what penguins eat. Do you want to know what it is?" asked Mura.

"Sure what?" asked Kimi.

"They eat fish," said Mura with a giggle, "So look what my daddy got for me to bring to class." Sh e pulled out a can that read fish on it.

"Fish in a can?" asked Kimi.

"Yeah, Daddy says this was the easier way to bring what penguins eat," said Mura giggling , "What did you bring to show what elephants eat?"

"Peanuts of course," said Kimi opening her own bag. She reached in for the bag but instead she felt something else, something unfamiliar. "What's this?" She asked as pulled it out.

"Ack!" Juli shouted as he felt something yanking at his bow and started to get pulled out. The minute he was brought out he came face to face with a girl he didn't recognize.

* * *

"Ah!" Mura shouted as she saw Kimi pull out the squirrel.

"Ah!" Juli also shouted in surprise.

"Juli?!" said Kimi in surprise as well.

"Huh, oh Little Chi!" Juli shouted.

"Kimi, what is that?!" said Mura, "Don't tell me this is what elephants eat!"

"No!" said Kimi, "This is Juli, my sister's pet squirrel!"

"Why is he in your bag?" asked Mura.

"Yeah Juli why are you in my bag?" asked Kimi.

"Why?" asked Juli, "To protect you of course Little Chi. I said I would didn't I?"

"But Juli you can't come to school! It's against the rules!" sai Kimi, "You're going to get me in trouble!"

"Hi Kimi," said one of boys, Edi walking over to Kimi, "What's that in your hand?"

"My sister's pet squirrel Juli," said Kimi.

"Hmm," said Juli looking at the boy with suspicion, "He's not the one is he Little Chi?"

"The one what Juli?" asked Kimi.

"The one's that's been mean to you and Wataru!" said Juli.

"No that boy's name is Aiji and he's in a different class than me," said Kimi, "This is Edi, he's actually nice."

"I don't know. I get the feeling of a wolf around him!" said Juli.

"What's he doing?" Edi asked as he and the girls watch Juli thrash around and squeak.

"He's just really excited is all," said Kimi.

"Hey Kimi what's that?" another student walking over to her to look at Juli. Soon nearly all the boys and girls had gathered around Kimi to get a good look at him. Juli wiggled out of Kimi's hand and managed to jump onto Kimi's shoulder.

"Hello boys and girls," he said, "My name is Juli and I happen to be Little Chi's silver knight. I protected her sister and I will protect her from anyone who may wish to do something mean to her!"

Some of the kids started to laugh at the sound of Juli squeaking.

"He's funny," said one.

"And cute," said another.

"Boys and girls, what is going on over here?" Miss Hogo asked as she walked over to her students. Then she saw Juli on Kimi's shoulder. She gave out a little scream.

"Oh my god!" she shouted, "Kimi what is that on your shoulder?!"

"This is Juli, my sister Ema's pet squirrel," said Kimi.

"Pet?" said Miss Hogo, "Kimi you know pets can't come to school without permission."

"I know," said Kimi, "I think he snuck into my backpack because I had peanuts in it for school."

"That wasn't just it!" said Juli, "I also came to protect you Little Chi!"

"So did eat some?" asked Kimi.

"Only three," said Juli.

"Oh my," said Miss Hogo as she watched the squirrel squirm around, "He's not dangerous is he Kimi?"

"No, normally he's usually nice," said Kimi.

"Well, I should go and find your brother to see if he cane take your little pet home. Boys and girls please behave yourself while I run down to the faculty office to find Kimi's brother. Do your coloring for now I'll be right back," said Miss Hogo as she hurried out of the classroom.

"Is he really your sister's pet Kimi?" Edi asked.

"Yep," said Kimi moving to her desk and taking a seat. A lot of the other children hurried over to where Kimi was sitting to try to get a better look at Juli. All the others watched from the other tables, not really coloring.

"Can he do any special tricks?" asked Mura.

"Of course I can do tricks. I'm a squirrel of my different talents after all," Juli boasted.

"Oh he likes to play in my doll house," said Kimi.

"I can do more than that Little Chi. For example since your teacher's not here I'll be in charge!" said Juli jumping to the center of the table. "Now listen boys and girls, your teacher instructed you to color so you better get to coloring otherwise you'll get into trouble!"

"Oh Juli don't be like that," said Kimi.

"What's he doing Kimi?" asked Mura.

"He's saying we should all get to work coloring like Miss Hogo said,' said Kimi. She reached for a crayon and started to color.

"Can you hear what it is Juli is saying Kimi?" asked Mura.

"Kin of," said Kimi, "So can my sister Ema and my older brother Louis."

"You're so lucky. My family seems kind of boring compared to yours," said Mura, "I want to meet all of them. Would I ever be allowed over to your house?"

"I don't see why not. I'll have to ask my brothers of course," said Kimi. She still liked the idea of getting to have a real friend coming to her house.

* * *

The minute Kaname walked into the administration office nearly every female staff member there looked up at him and gasped.

"Who is that?" asked one.

"Do you think he's here to enroll a child here?" asked another.

"I kind of hope he's a single father," said a third. Kaname merely smiled as he walked to the woman at the front desk.

"Hello, my name is Kaname Asahina, my little brother and sister are Wataru and Kimi Asahina," he said in his usual smooth calm tone.

"Oh hello," said the secretary.

"I have heard that there's been a problem concerning my poor little brother. I'm here to correct that wrong. Would you be so kind as to allow me to speak to the principle about this?" asked Kaname.

"Uh sure I'll go see if she's available," said the secretary. She got up and walked into the office behind her. A few minutes later she came back out along with another woman with glasses.

"Hello Mr. Asahina, I'm Ms. Tannin the school's principle," she said adjusting her glasses.

"Ms. Tannin, that's hard to believe," said Kaname.

"You say you're here to discuss the problems your brother's been getting into?" Ms. Tannin said not acting like she was phased by what it was Kaname had said.

"Yes I believe there's something you should know in regards to him and that so innocent boy he's been so called picking on," said Kaname.

"I see, then please step into y office," said Ms. Tannin still maintaining her calm cool composure.

"Then afterwards maybe we can discuss this whole Miss Tannin business," said Kaname as he followed her in.

"Don't make me change my mind sir!" said Ms. Tannin.

"I would hate that," said Kaname with a smirk.


	25. Chapter 25

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

Kaname walked calmly into Ms. Tannin and sat in front of the woman's desk while the principle came and sat down behind her desk with a serious look on her face.

"So Mr. Asahina you may begin," she said folding her hands in a no-nonsense mode, "Please tell me what it is you came to say in regards to your little brother. What was his name again?"

"Wataru of course," said Kaname.

"Oh yes now I think I know who you are talking about. Yes it seems that he's been having some confrontations with another boy, Aiji Ichigi, first grader from class 2-B," said Ms. Tannin as she pulled out a form and looks at it.

"Yes about that recently it's come to the attention of me and some of his other big brothers that he's only been getting into these confrontations with the boy is becuase he's been giving our youngest sister a hard time," said Kaname.

"Little sister?" asked Ms. Tannin.

"Kimi, she was recently adopted by my mother and stepfather," said Kaname.

"Ah yes," said Ms. Tannin, "She's one of our newest students. You claim The Ichigi Boy's giving her a hard time and that's what been provoking your brother to get into a confrontation with him?"

"Yes, Wataru's not one to simply engage in confrontation with someone especially someone younger than him unless he thought he was doing the right thing," Kaname continued to explain.

"Hmm," said the principle thinking long and hard about what it was Kaname had just told her, "I'd like to discuss this matter with the two boys' teachers as well if that's alright?"

"Of course," said Kaname with a confidence smile. Ms. Tannin gave him a slight sneer before walking to her door. As she came out she saw Miss Hogo hurrying into the office.

"Has anyone seen Mr. Asahina?" she asked.

"Miss Hogo is something the matter?" asked Ms. Tannin.

"One of my students accidentally brought her pet squirl to school and I was hoping if her big brother was still here and could take him home," said Miss Hogo.

"The little rodent actually made it to school huh?" said Kaname walking out of office.

"Mr. Asahina and I are having a meeting at the moment. Can he come and get this so called squirrel after we're done?" asked Ms. Tannin.

"Sure," said Miss Hogo.

"I apologize for the little creature as I'm sure my other sister was will also want to apologize for his presence here," said Kaname bowing.

"Thank you, please come and get him when you're done," sad Miss Hogo, "I should get back to my classroom and see how the kids are doing."

"I'll definitely come, if you ar there my dear," said Kaname.

"He hasn't met your brother hasn't he?" Ms. Tannin asked.

"No I don't think he's had the pleasure," said Miss Hogo hurrying out.

'Of course something tells me that even after meeting my brother he'd still continue on the way he is,' Miss Hogo thought as she hurried down the hallway down to her classroom.

* * *

Juli walked around the the table inspecting the drawings the children were working on. Much to his surprise all of them were drawing him, even Kimi.

"Good job boys and girls, keep up the good work," he said as he walked around.

"Thank you Juli," said Kimi.

"What did he say Kimi?" Mura asked.

"He says we're going a good job," said Kimi. suddenly they heard what sounded like fighting and saw that two boys at another table were fighting over a crayons.

"Hey now what's going on here?" asked Juli jumping over to the table. Kimi hurried over as well.

"I get the gray next!" said one boy.

"No I do!" said the other one. Juli jumped in between them.

"Okay now what's going on?" he asked.

"Kimi what's your squirrel doing?" asked one of the boys scared.

"He just wants to know why you're fighting," said Kimi.

"We both want the gray crayon to finish drawing," said the second boy.

"Oh that's easy," said Juli. He ran over to one of the other crayon bins and dived right in.

"What's Juli doing now?" asked Mura. Just then Juli popped out of the bin.

"I found another one," he said hoisting up a gray crayon. He jumped out of the bin with the crayon in his hand and hurried it back over to the two boys. "Here you go," he said handing it to one of the boys.

"Thank you," said both boys.

"Good now no more fighting," Juli said. He stood upright and called out, "Everyone please get back to work. Let's make your teacher proud when she gets back."

"What did he say Kimi?" Edi asked.

"He's saying to make sure that you get your drawings done before Miss Hogo gets back," said Kimi.

"Oh right," said the kids hurrying back to their drawings.

"Mmmhmm," said Juli, "I knew could handle this classroom just fine in your teacher's absents."

"You know the only reason she's not here at the moment is because she's trying to deal with you," said Kimi moving back to her own table, "You really shouldn't have come Juli."

"I only came to protect you Little Chi!" said Juli.

"But that's what Kaname's here for," said Kimi as she returned to her drawing as well.

"That wolf?" said Juli, "He's one of the worse!"

"Oh Juli," said Kimi.

"Hello boys and girls. I hope you're all still behaving yourselves," said Miss Hogo as she walked back in. Much to her surprise the classroom was quiet and calm with the children actually coloring like she had asked. "Well this is a nice surprise, to see you boys and girls still doing what I asked you to do in the first place."

"Juli helped keep us in line," Mura spoke up.

"Juli, you mean Kimi's pet?" asked Miss Hogo.

"Yeah he even stopped a fight," said Edi.

"Really?" said Miss Hogo looking at the squirrel who was sitting at Kimi's table again in the center calmly watching the boys and girls color, "Hmm well good to know he's not causing too much of a distraction. Please hurry and finish your drawings and we'll get started on sharing what foods your animals eat." The children were quick to finish their drawings and hand them all in.

"Oh my," said Miss Hogo looking at the drawings of Juli, "I se you all have the same idea of what to draw today huh?"

The children all laughed as they all went and took their seats on the carpet along with their food items. Miss Hogo watched as Kimi as she came to the circle with her peanuts and Juli riding in her shoulder. Juli sat on her shoulder calmly and didn't make any noise as each kid came up and presented their food items.

'It doesn't look like he's causing too much of a distraction,' the teacher thought. Then Kimi came up and showed her bad of peanuts

"Hi everyone, I brought peanuts to show what elephants," she said, "But they're not the only ones that eat them. So do squirrles like Juli." The children all laughed at that comment.

"Feed him one Kimi! Feed him one!" the children all chanted.

"Okay if he wants one," said Kimi handing Juli a peanut.

"Mmm thank you Little Chi," said Juli eating the peanut. The children all laughed some more.

"That was so cute!" said Mura.

"Okay, why don't we let Juli and Kimi take their seat and let someone else share what they brought," said Miss Hogo ushering Kimi back to her spot. As more and more children kept sharing, Miss Hogo kept noticing how calm and well behaved Juli was. He was even able to sort of catch things she didn't like when some of the other children were goofing off while another child presenting.

'This is a very interesting pet I must say,' she thought, "But then again Kimi seems to have a very interesting family.'

* * *

"Are you really sure about this Mr. Asahina?" asked Wataru's teacher, "I can believe that your brother is trying to protect your sister but are you sure that other boys is really harassing her?"

"I believe him," Aiji's teacher spoke up, "I use to have Wataru in my class and 've always known him to be a good boy who wouldn't simply pick on a boy for no reason. Plus given from what I've seen with Aiji, he is kind of a trouble maker especially with the little children. I've seen the way they run away from him and his so-called friends."

"Thank you my dear," said Kaname.

"But why didn't your sister not say anything before?" asked Wataru's teacher.

"Could it be Aiji intimidated the girl so much she felt too scared to say anything before?" asked Aiji's teacher.

"That's exactly it," said Kaname, "My not so smart brother Yusuke seemed to figure out what was going on and I think him and Wataru both knowing gave him the courage to possibly come forward."

"Hmm that does sound logical," said Ms. Tannin, "I know I've never had a problem with your brother before Mr. Asahina. I can assure you that we'll be working on to help resolve this issue."

"Thank you," said Kaname.

"Don't worry Mr. Asahina, I will be making sure to handle my student," said Aiji's teacher.

"Thank you so much Madam, " said Kaname kissing her hand.

"And I'll make sure to speak to Wataru as well," said Wataru's teacher.

"Thank you as well My Lady," said Kaname kissing her hand as well.

"We're all going to resolve this issue I promise," said Ms. Tannin ushering the women out, "I'm sure you should be getting to back to your classrooms."

"Yes of course," said the two teachers hurrying out.

"Thank you for your time my dear lady," Kaname suddenly whispered into her ear.

"Mr. Asahina don't you need to go collect your sister's pet?" Ms. Tannin asked pushing him back.

"Oh yes thank you for reminding me," said Kaname, "I hope the next time we meet it might be under more pleasant circumstances."

"We'll see," said Ms. Tannin shutting the door to her office in Kaname's face.

"Interesting woman isn't he?" asked Kaname.

"She's kind of been a stick ever since she kind of became single again," said her secretary.

"Again?" asked Kaname in slight surprise.

"Well," the secretary started to say only to get startled when Ms. Tannin opened her door again.

"Mr. Asahina why are you still here? Surely you have better things to be doing then harassing my secretary," she said annoyed.

"Oh yes sorry, my bad," said Kaname hurrying out. Ms. Tannin looked at her secretary.

"Please remember my personal business is not that man nor any one else business unless I wish to share it!" she said before walking back into her office.

"Yes Ma'am, sorry," said her secretary quickly returning to her work.

* * *

"Very well done boys and girls," said Miss Hogo, now we're going to our final assignment before our trip to the zoo. I want tp find a picture of where your animal lives. Some of you may have an animal that lives in the same place as someone else, but that's okay. I can't wait to see your pictures of where the animals live. Now let's move on."

Suddenly the door to the classroom door opened and everyone turned to see who was coming in.

"Hello boys and girls," aid Kaname, "it looks like my little sister has a lot of nice people in her class."

"Boys and girls, this is Kaname Asahina, one of Kimi's brothers," said Miss Hogo, "Can everyone say hello to Mr. Asahina?"

"Hello Mr. Asahina," said the children.

"Oh how sweet," said Kaname.

"I take it you're here for Juli?" asked Miss Hogo.

"Oh no he's not!" Juli hissed from Kimis shoulder.

"Juli maybe you should go with him," said Kimi.

"I'm not going anywhere Little Chi until I know that wolf who's been harassing you has been taken care of!" said Juli.

"Does he really have to go?" asked Mura suddenly.

"Yeah can't Juli stay?" asked Edi.

"Well," Miss Hogo said.

"If you don't mind I can safely say its alright for Juli to stay here," said Kaname.

"As if he has the right to give permission!" said Juli.

"Well he hasn't been too much of a distraction," said Miss Hogo, "I suppose if he doen't get too much in the way he can stay for the rest of the day."

"Yay!" cheered the children.

"If you need me or someone else to come get him later though please don't hesitate to call. I will come to your side in an instant," said Kaname.

"Thank you," said Miss Hogo.

"I'll see you later back at home little sister," Kaname said walking over to Kimi and making a grand gesture of picking her up and hugging her, "I hope you have a nice day at school today."

"Thank you Kaname," said Kimi.

"Your brother is kind of cute," Mura whispered as Kaname left.

"He's really nice," said Kimi.

"No he's a dangerous wolf!" said Juli.

"Juli, do you want to get Miss Hogo toa have Kaname take you home with him?" Kimi said.


	26. Chapter 26

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

When Kaname came home, he found Masaomi resting on the large couch. He looked up as Kaname came into the room.

"Oh, hello welcome back," he said, "Did you manage to work everything out?"

"Yes, everything's just fine," Kaname assured him, "Oh and guess what? Ema's little pet happened to sneak away in Kimi's backpack."

"Juli?" said Masaomi, "Oh great, I hope he didn't cause too much trouble!"

"No, in fact Little Kimi's teacher said that he could stay, as long as he didn't cause too much of a distraction," said Kaname.

"Oh, well if she's okay with it then, I suppose it's no big deal," said Masaomi. He leaned back in the couch and shut his eyes.

"She's a very lovely lady, our Little sister's teacher," Kaname suddenly added. At that Masaomi snapped opened his eyes.

"Oh, you met her teacher Miss Hogo huh?" he asked.

"Yes, a very charming lady," said Kaname.

"Yes, I've noticed," said Masaomi, "You probably shouldn't talk that way about her."

"Like what?" Kaname started to ask, only to suddenly see a look of concern on his brother's face, "Oh did I strike a little nerve?"

"I just don't want to get on Kimi's teacher's bad side," said Masaomi.

"Oh yes, of course," said Kaname, walking away with a smirk, "Of course, the school also has a rather cute principle."

"Oh god, please try avoid having any kind of scandal with the staff at that little ones' school!" Masaomi pleaded.

"What do you take me for? I'm a monk after all," said Kaname.

"Yeah, okay keep telling yourself that," said Masaomi.

* * *

Juli did wind up doing his best to remain calm and respectful during the rest of the morning. He only got disruptive when he noticed other children were misbehaving, and not paying attention. Miss Hogo didn't mind too much when he did that though. It saved her a little time. Kimi was feeling pretty good that Juli wasn't doing anything to make Miss Hogo call the house, and have someone come to pick him up.

"Okay boys and girls," said Miss Hogo later, as the afternoon started to roll around, "It's lunch time."

"Miss Hogo, can we eat outside again?" asked one of the children.

"Well, it is still warm enough that you can, I suppose," said Miss Hogo, "Just make sure you're wearing a coat."

"Come on Kimi!" said Mura, "Come on Juli!"

"We're coming," said Kimi.

"What is Juli going to eat though?" asked Edi.

"Oh, he can just have the rest of the peanuts I brought," said Kimi.

"Thank you Little Chi," said Juli, as the children all headed out to the playground. Juli kept looking around as Kimi headed over to the usual place to eat lunch, along with her friends.

"Little Chi," he said.

"What's wrong Juli?" asked Kimi, "Are you hungry? I got the peanuts right here." She handed one to him. Juli took it, but kept looking around with a serious look.

"Is that wolf out here?" he asked in a serious tone.

"Uh, I don't know. He usually is," said Kimi.

"Hmm, well don't worry, I'm ready for him!" said Juli.

"Little sister!" the two suddenly heard Wataru shouting out. They saw him running over to of them fast, with a big smile on his face, "Guess what?" However his happy face disappeared, and instead a look of surprise appeared, when he noticed Juli sitting on Kimi's shoulder. "What's Juli doing here?"

"He snuck into my bag, and came to school with me," said Kimi.

"Oh, was he after your peanuts?" asked Wataru.

"Why does everyone assume I only think with my stomach?" asked Juli, as he munched on the peanut.

"Well, anyway, guess what, my teacher says I'm no longer in trouble. My teacher says they worked the whole thing out!" said Wataru.

"That's great Wataru! I'm glad you're no longer in trouble," said Kimi happily.

"Yes, I suppose it's best not to be suffering for something you didn't do," said Juli.

"Uh-oh, Kimi look!" Mura suddenly said pointing past Wataru. Both he and Kimi looked to where she was pointing, to see Aiji walking up to them. He had a smile on his face, but for some reason, it still made Kimi feel afraid He also held a big ball in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" Wataru asked, cautiously.

"Nothing," said Aiji calmly, "I just came here to say I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. Apparently, I've been acting kind of rude to the two of you. I'm so sorry."

"Oh well, thank you," said Kimi.

"Hmm," muttered Juli, "is he the one Little Chi?"

"Yes," said Kimi timidly.

"What is that on your shoulder?" Aiji asked with a sneer.

"Oh this Juli, my sister's pet squirrel," said Kimi.

"It's weird, just like you," said Aiji.

"What did he just say?!" asked Juli.

"Juli, shh," said Kimi.

"Anyway, like I said, I'm so sorry for my rude behavior," Aiji started to go off again.

"Thank you," said Kimi.

"Yeah thanks,"said Wataru.

"In fact, I'm so sorry, I thought I'd come over here and ask you, if you want to play with me," said Aiji, "Here, catch!" He threw the ball right at Kimi's face. It hit her so hard she actually fell over a bit, and knocked Juli off of her shoulder.

"Little Sister!" shouted Wataru in alarm.

"Kimi!" said Mura.

"Oops, sorry," said Aiji. At that Juli raced up, and jumped on Aiji's hair, and started pulling at it, making the boy stumble around.

"You evil little child! I'll teach you to be mean to Little Chi like that!" he shouted, as he pulled at the boy's head.

"Get this thing off of me!" Aiji shouted, as he tried to get Juli off.

"Little Sister, are you alright?" asked Wataru, looking Kimi over.

"Yeah, I think so," said Kimi holding her nose. It hurt, but it didn't look like it was bleeding or anything. She looked up at the sound of commotion to see Juli on top of Aiji's head, tugging at his hair.

"Juli, stop that!" she shouted.

"Yeah Juli stop!" Wataru also shouted.

"I will stop, once I teach this wolf some manners!" said Juli.

"But Juli, you'll get in trouble and have to go home!" Kimi tried to remind him. Wataru managed to grab Juli, and pull him off Aiji.

"I'm going to kill that thing!" Aiji shouted.

"He threw it right at her ma'am," Edi suddenly shouted, running up with a teacher behind him. It happened to be Aiji's teacher.

"Aiji, did you really throw a ball at this girl?" she asked.

"No, I was just trying to play with her," said Edi.

"Why are you even hanging around her? I asked you not to go near her for the time being," said his teacher.

"But," Aiji tried to protest, "Her squirrel attacked me!"

"What?" asked the teacher looking at Wataru holding Juli, "That little thing? He looks so harmless."

"Well Aiji did sort of scare him when he hit Kimi with the ball," said Mura.

"Oh, I see," said the teacher, "Well Mr. Ichigi, why don't we spend the rest of lunch time in the classroom together. Come along!" She grabbed the boy and led him away.

As the two walked away, Kimi actually breathed a sigh of relief. Then she looked at Juli.

"Juli, you didn't have to do that. You could have gotten in trouble," she said.

Well, I'm sorry Little Chi, but I did what I had to do in order to protect you, like I said I would," Juli said boldly.

"It did look rather funny watching Juli pulling at his hair huh?" said Muga, laughing a little.

"Yeah it did," said Wataru, also laughing at the memory.

"It was funny to see the bully get taken down a little," said Edi, as he started to laugh as well. All of the other little kids around them started to laugh. Kimi also found herself laughing at the memory.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Kimi was actually able to enjoy herself, and not be too worried over Juli being at school with her.

"Boys and girls, should we say good-bye to Juli?" Miss Hogo said at the end of the day, as the kids all started to get ready to leave for the day.

"Bye Juli!" said all the boys and girls.

"Farewell Children. I hope we can see each other again someday," said Juli.

"He's really happy he was able to come," said Kimi.

"Next time Juli wants to come to school, make sure to ask for permission first please," Miss Hogo asked.

"Yes Miss Hogo," said Kimi. She headed out with a smile to her usual waiting spot for Ema and Yusuke. Wataru was already there waiting.

"Hi Wataru," she said happily.

"Hi Little Sister," said Watar sounding really happy.

"Kimi, Wataru hi," they heard Ema calling out as she and Yusuke walked up to them, both smiling. However her smile faded when she noticed that Juli was on Kimi's shoulder. "Juli, tell me you didn't come to school withe Kimi!"

"What's your little rodent doing here?" asked Yusake.

"He was after Little Sister's peanuts," said Wataru.

"Juli, did you really?" Ema asked picking up her friend in her hand.

"No!" said Juli, "I came here to protect Little Chi. I only ate three before we came to school, and then I ate the rest after Little Chi did her presentation!"

"Oh Juli," moaned Ema, "I hope you didn't cause too much trouble for Kimi's class."

"Everyone actually liked him a lot, even Miss Hogo. Although, she says next, Juli needs permission to come," said Kimi.

"Of course," said Ema.

"Let's just get home," said Yusuke, "Our ever so nice history gave us a huge assignment of creating some sort of historic display, and it's due by Monday! There goes our whole weekend!"

"Well don't forget, we get to work on it together Yusuke. We are partners in this after all right?" Ema reminded him.

"Oh, right!" said Yusuke.

'We're partners, we get to work side by side together for the full weekend!' he thought excited.

"He's your partner?!" Juli shouted mad.

"Come on, let's get home," said Ema.

"Are we still going to be able to stop off and get a treat?" asked Wataru.

"No, we need to get home so we can get started on our assignment!" said Yusuke.

"I'm sorry Wataru, but I promise you we'll get you something this weekend alright?" said Ema.

"That's okay," said Wataru. What he really wanted was to go back to the park, but it seemed like so many of his older siblings weren't able to help with such a thing at the moment.

"So, did you managed to stop that little brat who's been harassing Kimi?" Yusuke asked as they started to leave.

"Oh yeah!" said Wataru, "Even when he hit Kimi with the ball, he actually got in trouble!"

"Wait, he hit Kimi with a ball?" asked Yusuke.

Yeah, but both a teacher and Juli took him care of him!" said Wataru.

"Juli, please tell he's joking," said Ema.

"Nope, I took him down a full peg!" said Juli. Ema groaned.

"Well good, the little punk could stand to learn a lesson or two!" said Yusuake.

"Yeah!" said Wataru.

* * *

By the time the group arrived home, Ukyo was also arriving, holding some grocery bags. He looking really tired

"Welcome home," said Ema.

"You look terrible," said Wataru.

"Hmm, thanks Wataru. I'm sorry, I'm just feeling over worked at the moment," said Ukyo ,also giving off a yawn.

"Here, why don't I prepare dinner for you," Ema offered, taking the bags.

"Oh, thank you Ema," said Ukyo.

"What about our project?" asked Yusuke.

"Oh right, um why don't you go and pick what historic monument you want to do, so we can work on it after dinner?" Ema suggested.

"Oh sure," said Yusuke.

"I'm going to go lie down for a little bit," said Ukyo. The three of them all headed off in their own directions, leaving Wataru and Kimi all alone.

"Well, now what do we do?" Kimi asked as she took off her jacket, and put it away.

Wataru thought about it for a moment, looking out the door. "Let's go to the park!" he finally suggested.

"What?" asked Kimi, "But Masatomi said we have to have a big brother or big sister to come with us."

"Hmm," Wataru thought some more, "Well I'm a big boy. I'm your big brother. I don't see why I couldn't take you. Come on let's go!"

"But," Kimi tried to protest. However Wataru managed to grab her hand and drag her out, not even giving her a chance to put on her jacket back on.


	27. Chapter 27

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi didn't say much as she let Wataru pull her down the street untill they came to a traffic stop.

"Wataru," she finally spoke up, "Are you sure this is okay?"

"Of course it is. I've been allowed to go to the park before by myself lots of time," said Wataru.

"But Masato says a big brother needs to come with us," said Kimi.

"But I am a big brother," said Wataru with confidence.

"But," Kimi said, though she wasn't sure what she should say in this matter. Jut then the light change and the two crossed the street together.

"Are you really sure this is okay?" asked Kimi once they had fully crossed the street.

"Sure as long as we get back home by dinner time," said Wataru. The two kept walking and soon they were at the park. surprisingly no one was there playing.

"Come on, let's go!" said Wataru as he let go of Kimi's hand and ran to the playground. Kimi however stood where she was still not feeling that this was the right.

"Come on Little Sister!" Wataru shouted at her.

"Well okay," said Kimi. She finally made her way to one of the toys and climbed on. It did feel a bit fun being able to play like that.

"See isn't this fun Little sister?!" said Wataru.

"Yeah Kimi agreed, right as she gave off a small sneeze. She had almost forgot how cold it was starting to get.

* * *

"there hopefully it'll be a lot easier to get dinner made," Ema said once she had all of Ukyo's groceries put away, "That just means I can go and help Yusuke with out project."

"Why did you have to have him as your partner?!" Juli asked as they walked upstairs.

"I asked for it that way," said Ema.

"Why would you want to be a partner with a wolf?!" asked Juli.

"I just thought it made more sense since we live together we could work together," Ema explained.

"Regardless!" said Juli. "I'm going to have sitin and keep an eye on you two to make sure he doesn't try anything!"

"He's not going to do anything Juli, he's my brother," said Ema.

"Did you say something Ema?" Masaomi said coming out of his room with a towel.

"Masaomi, you're awake," said Ema, "How are you feeling?"

"Still tired but I have to at least take a shower at least," said Masaomi, "How's everything going so far?"

"Oh good, I think everything's now cleared up at Wataru and Kimi's school," said Ema.

"Oh great, I heard that rom Kaanme earlier," said Masaomi.

"We weren't able to stop off to get Wataru a special treat since Yusuke and me have a huge assignment that's due by Monaday," said Ema.

"Well that's alright," said Masaomi, "Maybe we'll get a chance to do something nice for him this weekend with the bulk of the family."

"Oh that might be fun!"said Ema.

"Speaking of which, where is Wataru? And Kimi for that matter?" asked Masaomi.

"Um," said Ema suddenly realizing she hadn't seen or heard from either of them since they came home and she had to go off to take care of the groceries. "I don't know, now that you mention it."

"Oh, I guess it had been kind of quiet here," said Masaomi looking around, "Well if you see them running around let me know okay?"

"Sure," said Ema, "I have to go find Yusuke and get started on the project."

"Sure," said Masaomi as he headed off to the bathroom.

* * *

Masaomi managed to have a nice peaceful shower and it managed to make him feel a lot better.

As he came out of his shower however he was surprised not to hear anything that sounded like little kids were around.

'Hmm why does it sound a little too quiet around here?' he thought. However te quietness was soon interrupted by the sound of Tsubaki saying something to Azusa.

"I still say that ending is stupid. They don't even hook up," Tsubaki said as he came past the bathroom with his brother.

"I think they left it open with the idea of a second season," said Azusa.

"I know that but still. She could have at least kissed him," said Tsubaki.

"Tsubaki, Azusaa, you two haven't seen Wataru or Kimi around have you?" asked Masaomi.

"No we just got home," said Azusa.

"Eh, you know kids. They're probably off in some random spot playing," said Tsubaki.

"It just seems like it's too quiet around here," said Masaomi.

"Did you check their rooms?" asked Azusa.

"I guess I better check that," said Masaomi, "Could one of you possibly check outside as well?"

"Sure," said Azusa heading to the outside.

"I'm sure they're around here somewhere," said Tsubaki as he walked off as well.

Masaomi meanwhile headed towards the little ones' rooms.

"Wataru, are you in here?" he asked walking into his little brother's room. To his surprise it was empty. He did his best not to worry and instead head over to Kimi's room instead.

"Kimi, are you here?" he asked as he walked in. It too was empty. Masaomi was starting to dislike this more and more. He hurried back downstairs to see if Azusa had managed to find them.

As he came down the stairs he found him and Tsubaki talking.

"Well I didn't find any sign of them here on the main floor at least," he heard Tsubaki say.

"I take it you didn't find either one outside?" Masaomi asked.

"No I'm afraid not," said Azusa.

"And I didn't find them in either of their rooms," said Masaomi, "This isn't good I think. This really isn't good."

* * *

Natsume was working at his desk at his job, finishing up most of work for the day before he went home. As he worked he was soon distracted by the sound of someone knocking at his office door.

"Who is it?" He called out from his desk, barley looking up from his computer. He heard the door open and the person walked in.

"Hello Asahina," he said in a calm voice. Natsume looked up at the visitor.

"Oh hello Ichigi," he said before looking back down at his computer, "Can I help you with something?"

"I just got an interesting phone call from my wife. It seems our son Aiji got into trouble for harassing your little brother and sister," said Ichigi.

"Your son's been harassing my brother and sister?" asked Natsume looking back up in slight surprise.

"Yes apparently he's been picking on your little sister a lot and any time your little brother tried to interfere my son would apparently make it look like he was the one causing the problem," said Ichigi.

"I see and you're telling me this because what ? Are you going to apologize on behalf of your son for what he's been doing to the two of them?" asked Natsume.

"actually I want to know where the teacher got tat crazy idea. My son's a good boy and he's not one to pick on little kids like that," said Ichigi, "I'm thinking your brother just said all fo this to get himself out of trouble."

"Well with all due respect sir, my little brother's not one to do something like that. I may not be home around him as much but I know Wataru's not that petty. Whatever's going on I think you're going to have to sit down and talk with some of my brothers who do with Wataru full time. I'm sure they'd like to discuss this with, especially if someone's making a claim that your son's picking on Kimi, my little sister."

"Kimi, right that's her name," muttered Ichigi, "Sounds like a hassle having a little kid like that around. You should have just left her in at the orphanage. She'd be better off there."

At that Natsume paused in mid-typing.

"How did you know Kimi was from a orphanage?" he asked.

"What?" asked Ichigi.

"How did you know Kimi was adopted from an orphanage?" asked Natsume, "I don't recall ever mentioning that, at least not to you."

"Uh right," said Ichigi sounding like he was trying to get out of a jam that he said, "I just remember seeing her at the picnic I noticed she didn't really looked like you or any of your brothers or your other sister."

"So?" said Natsume.

"Look I just wanted to know if you knew anything in regards to what happened between my son and your uncontrollable siblings," said Ichigi bitterly, "And you can rest assured I am going to be contacting your brothers that do live with the two of them to talk about this." He hurried out before Natsume could say anything else.

'Hmm,' Natsume thought as he reached for his phone.

* * *

"They could still be off playing in some place we haven't even thought to look," Tsubaki insisted.

"No, I we would have heard some sort of peep out of them by now I think," said Masaomi.

"Where else could they have gone though?" asked Azusa. Before Masaomi could reply his phone went off.

"Oh it's Natsume," he said, "Hello?"

"Hi Masamo, I'm sorry to bother you but I have something I had wanted to talk to you about," said Natsume.

"Well no offense or anything Natsume but now is not a good time," said Masaomi.

"Something wrong?" asked Natsume.

"We can't find Kimi and Wataru anywhere. I'm starting to think they're not here at the condo at all and I'm worried. I don't know where they are," said Masaomi.

"What?" said Natsume, "Look I'm getting off work. I'll see if can drive around looking for them."

"Thank you, I think we're going to start looking around for the two of them too," said Masaomi as he hung up.

"Do you have any ideas as to where they could have gone?" asked Natsume. Masaomi thought about it for a moment.

"I know Wataru's been wanting to go back to that park you had your company picnic for a long while," said Masaomi, "It's actually not too far from the condo."

"I'll check there first," said Natsume.

"Thank you," said Masaomi, "I think Wataru may also have tried going to off to a store for his special treat that we promised him. I'll chekc there myself."

"Okay, I'll call if I find them," said Natsume.

"Where else could we check?" asked Azusa as Masaomi got off his phone.

"'Im not sure," said Masaomi.

"Well we can still walk around trying to find them," said Azusa.

"Yeah and we'll call the minute we find them," said Tsubaki.

"I'll go tell Ema and Yusuke what's going on and ask them to stay here in case the kids come home on their own, said Masaomi. The three brothers all quickly headed off.

* * *

"You don't like it do you?" Yusuke asked as Ema looked over the historic landmark he wanted to create, the Sphinx from Egypt.

"No, no I think it's a good idea," said Ema, "I was just thinking what we could use to make it."

"Oh good, I'm glad you liked it," said Yusuke. He smiled a bit proudly at himself over Ema liking his idea.

"Yusuke, Ema," Masaomi said hurrying into the room.

"Something wrong?" asked Ema.

"We can't find Wataru or Kimi anywhere around the house. We think they went off somewhere on their own. Azusa, Tsubaki and I aer going to go look for them and Natsume is out looking for them too. Can I ask you two to stay here in case they come back?" Masaomi asked.

"Oh sure!" said Ema.

"Where could they have gone?" asked Yusuke.

"I'm not sure but hopefully they didn't get too far," said Masaomi as he hurried back out.

"I hope they're okay wherever they are!" said Ema.

* * *

"Wataru," Kimi said as she came down a slide again.

"What's wrong little sister?" asked Wataru.

"Do you think we should go home now? It's getting kind of late right now huh?" said Kimi.

"It's not that late," said Wataru, "We can stay a little longer."

"Hmm," said Kimi. She was starting to feel uneasy again. Plus she was also starting to not feel so good. She gave off another sneeze. "Im getting cold Wataru. Can't we just got home?"

"Why are you getting cold?" asked Wataru.

"I didn't bring my coat," said Kimi, "Please can we go home?"

"Well," Wataru started to say.

"Yes you should go home," Natsue said as he suddenly came upon the two children.

"Natsume, what are you doing here?" asked Wataru.

"What am I doing here?" I'm looking for you two. Everyone back at the house is worried about you two since you left without even telling anyone else where you were going."

"Well we're sorry but we really wanted to go to the park," said Wataru, "And I've been allowed to go to the park before by myself."

"I relaize that," said Natsume, "but you also didn't have to worry about being responsible for Kimi when you did that. What if something had happen to her while you were out on your own?"

"Natsume?" Kimi asked as she walked over to her brother and tugged as his pant leg.

"What's wrong Kimi?" Natsume asked looking down at her. He noticed she was looking a bit pale.

"I don't, feel, Kimi started to sputter only to start to fall over before she could finish what she was going to say.

"Kimi?" said Natsume as he managed to catch her before she fell over.

"Little Sister?!" said Wataru running over to her, "Oh no is this because I left the house without her coat?!"


	28. Chapter 28

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi opened her eyes to see Natsume and Wataru both looking down at her.

"Little Sister!" Wataru shouted with worry.

"I don't feel so good," Kimi muttered softly. She heard Natsume give off a sigh.

"Come on let's take you two home," he said. He picked up Kimi and let her rest her head on his shoulder as he carried her back to the car followed closely by Wataru. He made sure to let Kimi lay down on the back seat while he let Wataru sit in the front seat. Once he made sure the little ones were secured inside his car he made sure to call Masaomi to let him know he had found the two of them.

Wataru kept looking back at Kimi with worry as Natsume drove them back to the condo.

"Is little sister going to be okay?" he asked with worry.

"I'm sure she's going to be okay for the most part but she probably needs to get home and put to bed," said Natsume, "I'm sure Masaomi will make sure she's just fine."

* * *

By the time Natsume got the kids back to the condo Masaomi, Tsubaki and Azusa had returned as well. The minute Masaomi saw Natsume's car pull up he ran to it as fast as he could.

"Are they okay?" he asked.

"Kimi may not be so well," said Natsume opening his back car door where Kimi was still laying down looking pale.

"Oh no Kimi!" Masaomi said with worry. He helped pull her out of the car and carry her inside.

"She passed out when I found her and Wataru back at the park," Natsume told him as he followed him inside.

"Oh no poor Kimi!" said Azusa. Masaomi put his hand on the little girl's forehead.

"It feels like she has a temperature," he said with worry, "I need to get her to bed right away."

He hurried away fast along with his other brothers. Wataru meanwhile lingered back where he was feeling a huge sense of remorse and guilt for what had happened to Kimi.

"It's all my fault isn't it?" he said to himself.

"What's all your fault?" Subaru asked coming up behind him.

"Kimi's sick because I took her to the park without her coat." said Wataru.

"Oh," said Subaru, "Well I'm sure she's going to be fine. Masaomi will take good care of her."

"I hope so," said Wataru sadly.

"Why don't you go up and see how she's doing right now?" Subaru suggested.

"Sure," said Wataru. He raced back inside with Subaru following closely behind him.

* * *

Kimi found herself laying in bed watching as Masaomi looked over a thermometer with an unhappy look on his face.

"Well it looks like she's a slight temperature," he said out loud right as Ukyo came in wheeling a cart with some soup on it.

"She has a temperature?" he asked.

"Not too bad of a one," Masaomi assured him, "It should go away after a day."

"Oh that's good," said Ukyo.

"With that said however she's probably going to have to stay home tomorrow so she can recover," said Masaomi.

"Yeah agreed," said Ukyo.

"Tomorrow?!" said Kimi sitting up in shock.

"Now Kimi don't get over excited now," said Masaomi as he made her lay back down.

"But we're going to the zoo tomorrow!" said Kimi.

"Oh I'm sorry Kimi, but we got to keep you home so you can get better and not get any of the other kids sick as well," Masaomi told her as gently as he could.

"So I'm not going to the zoo tomorrow?" said Kimi disappointed.

"I'm sorry Kimi but no," said Maaomi.

"Oh," Kimi moaned in sadness as she looked away from her brothers so they wouldn't see her upset.

"Well we're sorry Kimi," said Masaomi, "maybe we can find a time to take you there. Would you like going to to zoo with your big brothers and sister?"

"Hmm maybe," Kimi said softly.

"Well in the meantime how about eating some of soup?" Ukyo suggested as he set up a tray with the bowl on it, "It'll help make you feel better."

"Okay," said Kimi as she sat up to eat the soup.

'I can't believe I can't go to the zoo tomorrow,' she thought as she took some small sips.

* * *

Wataru came to Kimi's room to find his three triplet brothers all standing outside.

"Poor kid, not able to go on her school trip tomorrow," he heard Tsubaki say.

"Little Sister can't go to the zoo tomorrow?" he asked out loud. All three brothers turned and looked at him.

"No I'm afraid not," said Azusa, "She's too sick to go. She needs to stay home and recover."

"Now do you understand what you did wrong?" Natsume said to him sternly walking over to him, "This is why Masaomi and Ukyo didn't want you going to the park on your own with Kimi. You're still too irresponsible to be doing such things like looking after a child her age." Wataru looked down ashamed.

"I'm sorry , I just thought I could be a good big brother," he sad said before running off to his room.

"Wasn't that kind of harsh?" Subaru asked.

"He needs to learn he's still a little kid and not ready for such responsiblites as looking after a child Kimi's age," said Natsume.

"Well can you blame him for wanting to try to act grown up?" asked Subaru, "He's always seeing his big brothers and sister doing grown up things and now that he's no longer the youngest don't you think he'd want to try to be like them as well?"

"Wow where did that come from?" Tsubaki asked.

"Let's just say I know what it likes to watch a big brother and want to be like him," said Subaru. He looked straight at Natsume as he said that before walking off to Wataru's room himself.

"He does have a point," Azusa said.

"Hmm I suppose," said Natsume.

* * *

Subaru walked into his little brother's room and found him sitting on his bed looking really upset.

"Hey don't threat too much Kimi. I'm sure she's going to be just fine," he said trying to help perk Wataru up.

"I thought I was going to be the best big brother ever to Kimi when she came to live with us but so far I'm falling!" said Wataru. He was a bit surprised when he suddenly felt Subaru pat his head.

"It's never easy being a big brother. It takes a lot of work," he said, "But I think if you keep trying as hard as you are you're going to get it right. Kimi's lucky to have a brother who cares for her so much like you do."

"You mean that?" Wataru.

"Of course I do," said Subaru.

* * *

"Finish your soup and then get some rest okay Kimi?" Masaomi said as he and Ukyo came out of the room, "We'll be back to check on you later."

"So she's really going to be okay right?" asked Azusa.

"Oh yes, she just needs a day of rest," said Masaomi, "Which means someone's going to have to alter their schedule a bit to stay here and watch her."

"I think we can," said Tsubaki, "right Azusa."

"Of course we can," said Azusa.

"Hmm thank you," said Masaomi. "Oh and Natsume thank you for finding and bringing back the children."

"Sure it was no big deal," said Natsume, "That actually reminds me, the whole reason I called in the first place. I wanted to know, did you know anything about Kimi's real parents?"

"I don't recall there being anything both from what Mom and Dad said and the files we got of her," said Ukyo, "Or maybe there was just something I missed. did you want to take a look at the files yourself?"

"May I?" Natsume asked.

"Sure I've been keeping them safe in my office," said Ukyo. The two started to walk off.

I should probably go and contact Kimi's teacher to let her know she won't be coming on the field trip tomorrow," said Masaomi. At that Ukyo stopped in his tracks.

"You're going to call her?" he asked.

"Well someone has to and you're busy so," Masaomi said before he started to walk off.

"Hmm," Ukyo muttered before he started to walk off slightly annoyed.

"What was that all about?" asked Tsubaki with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Who knows," said Azusa.

* * *

"Here's all I have," Ukyo said handing him the files from Kim's adoption. Natusme looked them over as throughly as he could.

"I see it doesn't say anything about her parents does it?" he said.

"No apparently she was dropped off at the orphanage as an infant by a social worker since her birth mother gave up as soon as she was born," said Ukyo.

"I see, you'd stil think there'd be something on her birth parents in here," said Natsume.

"Why are you so curious to know about her real parents all of a sudden?" Ukyo asked.

"For some reason one of my co-workers somehow knew Kimi had been adopted into this family even though I had never really told him that," Natsume explained, "It got me a little curious as to whom might be Kimi's real parents."

"Hmm that does sound like something I'd be curious about. Well maybe if any of us has a little bit more time we can try digging a little deeper to see if we can figure out who her parents are," said Ukyo.

"Can I borrow any of these?" Natsume asked.

"I suppose," said Ukyo, "Who was this co-worker anyway who knew Kimi was adopted?"

"Oh, Hibine Ichigi," said Natsume, "He's actual the father of the boy who's apparently been harassing the children at school."

"Hmm well maybe that's how he found out Kimi was adopted. Maybe his son found out and told his father," said Ukyo.

"I suppose," said Natsume, "I'm still going to look through this a bit more if that's alright."

"Sure if you think it'll help," said Ukyo, "though I don't really see the point. Kimi's a part of this family now and we should jut let it be at that."

"I know but I can't help but think that maybe it'd best to look up to help keep her a part of this family," said Natsume.

* * *

Kimi had just finished eating her soup when she happened to hear a knock at her door.

"Come in," she called out. She assumed it was either Masaomi or Ukyo coming back to check on her like they said they would.

"Little Sister?" Wataru said walking in sheepishly.

"Wataru," said Kimi actually smiling at him.

"I just wanted to come and say I'm sorry for taking you out without your coat and getting you sick," said Wataru sheepishly.

"It's okay," said Kimi, "I still had fun." She did however give off a sad sigh, "I am sad I won't be able to go to the zoo tomorrow."

"I'm sorry for that too!" said Wataru, "Don't you worry I'll make sure you get to the zoo! Even if I have to take you there myself." Kimi started to laugh at that.

"Is that what got us sick in the first place?" she said, "You're funny Wataru." She started to cough again though.

"Do you need something little sister?!" Wataru asked.

"Jsut some water," said Kimi.

"I'll get it, I'll get it!" Wataru said as he hurried out of the room. He nearly ran into Subaru as he came running out.

"Sorry Subaru," he said in haste.

"everything going okay?" Subaru asked.

"Yes just got to get glass of water for Kimi!" said Wataru as he hurried off again.

"Oh," said Subaru looking into Kimi's room himself. "You feeling okay?" he asked.

"Just need some water," said Kimi softly.

"So you're not mad at Wataru I take it?" asked Subaru.

"No," said Kimi lauging again, "I like Wataru I think." She started to cough again.

"Do you want me to get you something else?" Subaru asked. Before Kimi could respond Wataru came in with the cup.

"Here you go little sister sorry I'm so late!" he said handing it to her.

"It's fine," said Kimi taking the cup and drinking it, "Thank you so much Wataru."

"Sure as long as you're not mad at me Little Sister," said Wataru.

"No, I don't think I can really get mad at you Wataru," said Kimi smiling at her brother.


	29. Chapter 29

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

Masaomi had to take a deep breath before he could work up the courage to actually call up Kimi's teacher. He couldn't believe how nervous he was feeling calling her up to simply inform her Kimi wouldn't be in school tomorrow. It's not like he hadn't done such a thing before. However it was a bit different having to call her up and he knew exactly why.

"Hello?" came Miss Hogo's voice over the phone.

'Oh boy!' Masaomi thought, 'This is going to be harder than I thought!'

"Hello?" came Miss Hogo's voice again. Masaomi took another deep breath before he finally spoke up

"Uh Hello Miss Hogo, this is Masaomi Asahina, Kimi's older brother," he said as calmly as he could.

"Oh hello, how are you?" Miss Hogo asked cheerfully.

"I'm well," said Masaomi.

"And how's Kimi?" Miss Hogo kept going on, "I bet she's really looking forward to tomorrow with the field trip huh?"

"Well actually that's why I'm calling. I'm afraid one of Kimi's brothers took her to the park without her coat by mistake," Masaomi started to say.

"Oh dear that can't be good. She could get sick doing that," said Miss Hogo with concern.

"Yes I know and unfortunelty that's what happened. I'm afraid that she a slight fever and unfortunately we're going to have to keep her home tomorrow so she can recover," Masaomi told her. He heard the teacher gasp on the over line.

"Oh dear that's terrible. I hope it's not too serious," she said.

"Oh no she just needs a day to recover is all," Masaomi assured her.

"Oh that's good," said Miss Hogo, "But I'm sorry that Kimi won't be able to come on our field trip to the zoo tomorrow."

"Yes I know and believe me she's very upset about that. However it's for the best that she stay home so she can recover and not get the other children infected," Masaomi explained.

"Agreed, agreed," said Miss Hogo, "Well thank you for calling me to let me know and give Kimi my best. I hope she's well enough to see again on Monday."

"Oh I'm sure she'll be better by then," said Masaomi with confidence.

"Good," said Miss Hogo, "You know I may even come by tomorrow if that's alright to check, on Kimi."

"You come here?" said Masaomi in a bit surprise, "Are you sure that's necessary?"

"Well if it's too much of a hassle then I don't have to," said Miss Hog.

"Oh no, it's not that. Please feel free to come by anytime Miss Hogo," Masaomi insisted.

* * *

"Thanks again for the paper work Ukyo," said Natsume as he and his brother walked together down the hallway.

"Sure," said Ukyo, "I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for."

"We'll see," said Natsume.

"Oh no it's not like that. Please feel free to come by anytime Miss Hogo," the two suddenly heard Masaomi say.

"Miss Hogo?" said Ukyo in surprise.

"Hmm?" said Natsume confused.

"Kimi's teacher," Ukyo explained.

"Oh yeah Chomei Hogo's little sister," said Natsume.

"Oh right him," said Ukyo suddenly remember Hiss Hogo's giant of a big brother.

* * *

"Okay, I'll try coming by tomorrow afternoon after school," Miss Hogo suggested.

"Sure tomorrow afternoon, I'll make sure to be here," said Masaomi with a bit of eagerness in his voice.

"Great, take care, and take care of Kimi too," said Miss Hogo," Bye now."

"Good bye now," said Masaomi kindly. He had a huge smile on his face as he hung up the phone. However his smile vanished when he realized Ukyo and Natsume were standing nearby.

"Oh hi," he said sheepishly.

"So is Miss Hogo coming over tomorrow?" Ukyo asked slightly bitter.

"Uh yes to check on Kimi," Masaomi explained.

"Makes sense that she'd be worried about her seeing as how shes the girl's teacher," said Natsume.

"Of course why else would she come over?" said Masaomi.

"Yes why indeed?" said Ukyo, "Well luckily I'll be here in the afternoon for when she comes over."

"You will?" asked Masaomi, "I mean it's no really necessary seeing as how busy you are at the moment. I'll be here."

"No I already knew I'd be home tomorrow in the afternoon so it shouldn't be too big of a deal to be here when she comes over," Ukyo insisted. Natsume looked between his two brothers a bit confused over the way they were both insisting on being here to greet Kimi's teacher. He could really feel the tension in the air between the two of them.

"Um anyway I should be going," he said trying to get out whatever drama the two of them were having.

"Oh you're leaving already?" Azusa asked as he and Tsubaki came up behind him.

"You're not even going to say good-bye to Little Kimi?" asked Tsubaki playfully throwing his arm around him.

"I don't see why I should especially if she's sick," said Natsume.

"Oh don't be such a hard older brother. Go show her you care and say good-bye," Tsubaki insisted. Next thing Natsume knew Tsubaki was pulling him back towards the stairs. All Natsume could really do is groan in annoyance.

* * *

"Are you all done with the soup Kimi?" Subaru asked as Kimi finished her water and put it on the tray with the empty bowl.

"Yes," said Kimi.

"Well here let me take it downstairs for you and have Wataru and I leave you alone so you can get some rest how about?" Subaru said.

"Oh do I have to? Can't I stay here and be with Little Sister a bit longer," Wataru whined

"We should really let her rest up," Subaru insisted gathering up the tray.

"Subaru's right Wataru," Natsume said as he and Tsubaki came into the room, "Don't forget the whole reason she's sick in the first place."

"Oh right," said Wataru, "I'll see you later Little Sister." He hurried out.

"Was that really called for?" Subaru asked as he too headed out looking annoyed at Subaru.

Natsume looked down slightly ashamed before looking over to Kimi.

"So how are you feeling Kimi?" he asked.

"I'm okay I guess," said Kimi only to give off a little cough. Natusme backed off a little.

"Well I hope you get better soon," he said, "And try not to let Wataru do something like that again alright?"

"Right," said Kimi.

"Right, like a four year old has that kind of power over a 10 year old," said Tsubaki. He started to laugh a little. "You know this reminds me of a time when we were little and I tricked you into going into a pond in the park. The water was so cold you caught a little cold yourself!" He laughed even harder at the memory. Natsume just glared at him.

"See Kimi, anyone can can be made to do something foolish by a bigger brother," Tsubaki said winking at the little girl.

"You're only a few minute older than me," said Natsume.

"I guess that makes you even more of the fool huh?" said Tsubaki laughing even harder.

"I'm going now," said Natsume as he headed to the door of the room. He turned and looked at Kimi. "Take care Kimi and get better soon alright?" he said.

"Right," said Kimi, "and thank you for coming to look for us Natsume."

"Of course I'd do anything for my siblings," said Natusme. He managed to actually give a smile before he walked out.

"Hmm," said Tsubaki, "He may act all tough Kimi but deep down he really is a big softy."

"Really?" said Kimi. Just then the door opened and Ema and Yusuke both walked into the room.

"Kimi thank goodness Natsume found you! Are you okay?" Ema asked.

"Masaomi says I have to miss my field trip tomorrow since I'm sick, said Kimi.

"Oh that's too bad," said Yusuke.

"Oh it's not too bad," said Tsubakie patting Kimi's head, "She does get to spend all day tomorrow with me taking care of her."

"And that's suppose to help her feel better?" Yusuke asked.

"Better than if you were looking after her," said Tsubaki.

"Really you're going to be here tomorrow to take care of Kimi Tsubaki?That's so sweet of you," said Ema.

"Of course, I'm always looking out for the well being of my little sisters," said Tsubaki moving closer to Ema and putting his arm around, "Maybe you should try getting sick and I'll show you how good I am of taking care of sick people, especially the cute ones."

"Tsbuaki!" Yusuke growled getting mad and clenching his fists.

"Uh, guys let's not fight especially in front of Kimi!" Ema insisted.

Outside Kimi's room Subaru was walking past and could hear the commotion coming from the room. "Hey," he said poking his head in, "I just convinced Wataru to leave the room so Kimi could rest up. You're not really helping with that."

"Oh Subaru you're right. Come on you two, let's leave Kimi alone so she can sleep," said Ema.

"Oh sure," said Yusuake, "Take it easy kid." He hurried out.

"I'll leave too for now and come back to check on you my cute little patient," said Tsubaki winking at her as he too walked out.

"Get some rest Kimi," said Ema, "Sorry we were keeping you from it."

"It's alright," said Kimi laying back down. She smiled at her big sister, "Our brothers sure do care a lot about us huh?"

"Yes they do," said Ema remembering her first day at the condo. She had gotten sick herself and all her brothers were so nice in helping to take care of her. She was happy Kimi was feeling happy about having so many brothers that cared about her too like that.

* * *

Kimi wasn't sure how long she was sleeping when she woke up. All she knew for sure was that it was late seeing as how it was dark outside her window. She felt the need to get up when she saw the door opening and Masaomi walking in.

"Oh good you're awake Kimi," he said with a smile, "How are you feeling?" He walked over and felt her forehead for her. "Hmm it's still warm. Well no matter. You're going to be just fine I'm sure after tomorrow. Would you like to take a bath? It could help a little you know."

"Okay," said Kimi as he managed to get out of bed and let Masaomi take her to the bathroom.

Masaomi did seem to be right about the bath. It did make her feel better. The warm water seemed to engulf her almost like a warm blanket. She could stay in here forever.

"Kimi you better get out soon so your skin doesn't wrinkle," she suddenly heard Masaomi say.

"Oh do I have to?" Kimi asked opening her eyes and looking at her brother with longing eyes. Masaomi gave off a chuckle.

"I'm afraid so," he said. He laid the towel down on the sink. "Hurry up and get dry off and dressed. I'll be waiting for you outside when you're done."

"Okay," said Kimi as she climbed out of the tub and did as Masaomi told her.

When she came out of the bathroom, she and Masaomi held hands and walked back to her room There they found Iori and Ukyo waiting for the two of them. Ukyo had another tray with a bowel on it while Iori was holding a flower in a vase in his hand.

"Oh hi Kimi," said Iori smiling at her, "I heard you had gotten sick."

"Yeah," said Kimi not sounding too happy about it.

"Well I'm sure this soup will help," said Ukyo opening the door to Kimi's room for her.

"Yes and once you're done with that you should get some more sleep alright?" said Masaomi.

"Sure," said Kimi. She looked over to Iori who was putting the vase onto the window still next to Kimi's other two flowers.

"They sometimes say flowers help make people feel better," he said kindly.

"Thank you Iori," said Kimi.

"Of course," said Iori as he patted her head and walked out.

Kimi could feel a huge sense of warmth coming through her. She didn't think it was from the blanket or the leftover feeling from the nice warm bath. If she could guess she could only assume the warm feeling was coming from the feeling of love she was constantly getting from her brothers. She was really enjoying her new life with all of her siblings much more than when she had first come to live with them.


	30. Chapter 30

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLIC IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi opened her eyes at the sound of her brother's voices.

"Kimi are you up?"

Kimi looked up and saw Masaomi kneeling next to her bed smiling. She tried to return the smile only to suddenly to let out a cough.

"Hmm," Masaomi said as his smile flickered a bit. "Well that answers my next question. Sounds like you're still under the weather. Looks like you're going to have to stay home after all."

"Oh," Kimi moaned, "It's not fair."

"I know it's not but it's for the best okay?" said Masaomi.

"Hmm," said Kimi slumping in her bed with her arms crossed. Masaomi chuckled and patted her head.

"Just stay in bed today to get better and if you recover soon we'll try to do something fun this weekend okay?" he said.

"Like what?" Kimi asked.

"We'll figure something out. Let's make sure you're better when the time comes okay?" Masaomi said, "I'll come back later before I go to work to check on you okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi. Masaomi patted her head again before heading out of the room. As he came out of the room he happened to notice Wataru coming out of his room.

"How's Little Sister?" he asked with worry.

"She's still sick so she's going to be staying home," said Masaomi, "Let's go get some breakfast."

"Oh can't I go see her?" Wataru asked as Masaomi led him away.

"She needs to rest and you need to get ready for school. Plus we need should try avoiding you getting sick," sad Masaomi.

"Oh okay," said Wataru.

"We'll see if you can come check on her before we go to school okay?" said Masaomi right as they came to the kitchen. There they found Ukyo and Ema working on breakfast.

"Good morning," said Ema, "How's Kimi doing?"

"Still sick unfortunately so she's going to have miss her zoo trip alas," said Masaomi.

"Oh poor Kimi," said Ema.

"Well I told her that if she managed to recovered by this weekend we'll try to take her some place fun," said Masaomi.

"Any ideas?" Ukyo asked.

"Not yet, but we'll figure something out," said Masaomi.

"It'll be fun to do something fun as a big family with Kimi," said Ema.

"Yeah!" said Wataru.

"Just as long as you remember to bring her coat along this time," Yusuke said as he came and joined them.

"Yusuke was that necessary?" Ukyo asked.

"I guess not," Yusuke muttered, "How is the kid doing?"

"Still sick," said Masaomi, "Looks like she's staying home today."

"Oh no big deal. She's got herself her great big brother here to watch her thought out the day," said Tsubaki smiling proudly walking into the room with a doctor's coat.

"Tsubaki what have I said about dressing up in my doctor's coat?" Masaomi asked.

"What I got to look the part if I'm going to be acting as my sweet little sister's care taker today," said Tsubaki.

"I'll be here too," said Azusa walking up behind him.

"Yeah good thing, otherwise I don't think the kid would last too long," said Yusuke.

"You're talking about yourself there aren't you?" Tsubaki said getting Yusuke caught up in a headlock.

"Hey!" Yusuke shouted as he tried to get out of it.

"Yusuke, Tsubakie quick fooling around. Yusuke you need to hurry so you can get to school," said Ukyo.

"I would if Tsubaki would let go of me!" Yusuke shouted.

* * *

"I'm done with my breakfast. Can I go check on Little Sister now?" Wataru asked.

"Yes but make it quick," said Masaomi.

"I'll go see her too if that's alright," said Ema, "I'll try to be quick Yusuke."

"Well if you're going to go see her I guess I should too," said Yusuke as he finished eating as well.

"Just make it quick. You don't want to get sick yourselves and you still have to get to school," said Masaomi.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," sad Yusuke.

"And if you're going up there can you bring this up for her?" Ukyo asked holding up a tray with food on it.

"Sure what the heck?" said Yusuke taking the tray.

"Oh and one more thing. Since it's just Wataru today you don't have to worry about picking Wataru up. He cam come home on his own like he use to," said Masaomi.

"Oh is that alright with you Wataru?" asked Ema.

"Sure I can handle it," said Wataru.

"Okay then," said Ema, "That might help give us a little more time to work on our project huh Yusuke?"

"Oh right," said Yusuke.

* * *

Kimi frowned as she held her precious toy elephant Beenjee.

"It's not fair Beenjee. I was probably going to see real elephants just like you. Now I'm sick!" she muttered.

"Hi Little Sister!" said Wataru hurrying in. Kimi nearly jumped out of her bed. "How are you feeling? I'm so sorry you're sick!"

"It's okay," Kimi said softly.

"We brought you some breakfast Kimi," said Ema as she and Yusuke walked in as well.

"Better eat up so you're not longer sick huh?" Yusuke putting the tray down next to Kimi's bed.

"Thank you Yusuke," said Kimi smiling at him.

"No prob kid. Just get better soon okay?" said Yusuke, "Let's get going huh?"

"Oh right," said Ema, "Bye Kimi take care okay?"

"Thanks Big Sister," said Kimi smiling at her.

"Bye Little sister! I hope you're better soon!" said Wataru as he carefully gave Kimi a small hug.

"Thanks Wataru. Maybe next time we go to the park we'll remember our coats huh?" said Kimi.

"I promise I'll do everything I can do to keep you from getting sick ever again!" Wataru declared. Kimi giggled only to start coughing again.

"Wataru you better get going, less you get sick too," said Masaomi coming into the room.

"Oh okay," Wataru moaned.

"And Kimi do your best to stay in bed so you get better okay? I think your teacher said she's going to be coming by today after school to see you," said Masaomi.

"Really?" said Kimi, "She's so nice."

"Yes she is," said Ukyo also walking in, "make sure to eat your food. Don't let it get cold."

"I won't," said Kimi reaching over for some of food.

"Good girl," said Ukyo, "Aren't you supposed to be taking Wataru to school?"

"Right," said Masaomi, "Bye Kimi. If you need anything don't forget that Tsubaki and Azusa are here if you need anything." Kimi nodded as she kept eating.

* * *

"I'm putting cough syrup here in the kitchen in case Kimi's needs some at all today. If you think she needs some make sure to check her temperature first to see how high it is. If it's not too high don't worry about the medicine okay?" Masaomi told Azusa.

"No problem," said Azusa, "How is she doing?"

"Well, her fever is almost gone. I think she's going to be just fine by tomorrow," said Masanomi.

"Good," said Azusa.

"Oh and here I was hoping I could play care taker even longer," said Tsubaki sitting on the couch.

"Tsubaki, for the last time take off my lab coat!" Masaomi shouted at him, "Also I'm going be doing my best to get home early to check on Kimi. Plus Kimi's teacher is going to stop by to check on her and I should be here to greet her."

"I'm also going to do my best to be here in this afternoon to greet Kimi's teacher," said Ukyo.

"Oh you are?" said Masaomi, "You should't trouble yourself you know."

"No it's fine. If anything you shouldn't worry yourself seeing as how you're having to take the time from your schedule to take Wataru to school," said Ukyo.

"Well I already said I'd be here when I talked to her yesterday," said Masaomi.

"Well there's no reason I shouldn't be here when she comes too though," said Ukyo as the two brothers walked off. Tsubaki and Azsa could hear the two arguing as they left the room.

"What's with those two?" Tsubaki asked.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say there's some sort of rivalry going on between the two of them over Kimi's teacher," said Azusa.

"Really?" said Tsubaki with enthusiasm, "That's interesting!"

"Yeah, I'm sure it would be," said Azusa, "I'm going to go check on Kimi."

"Wait up, I want to check on her too," said Tsubaki.

When the two brothers came to Kimi's room they found her finishing up her breakfast.

"Hi Little Kimi feeling any better?" Azusa asked.

"I'm sad. I couldn't go to the zoo," said Kimi.

"Oh that is sad," said Tsubaki as he picked up Beenjee. He held up the toy to his face, "You'll just have to spend the day with us," he said in different voice. Kimi giggled.

"I never thought Beenjee would sound like that!" she said.

"Pretty cool voice huh?" said Tsubaki with a smirk.

"Is that the same voice you used in that zoo anime we stared in together?" Azusa asked.

"Yep, the first show we did together huh?" Tsubaki asked, "Did you know you brother did voice an elephant once Kimi?"

"Huh?" said Kimi slightly confused.

"Don't we still have some of shows on DVD?" Azusa asked, "Maybe Kimi would like to watch it?"

"Oh I bet she would," said Tsubaki, "I'll go get a TV for her if you want to find the DVDs."

"Sure, we'll be right back Kimi," said Azusa as both boys headed out of her room.

"Okay,"said Kimi not sure she understood what it was her brothers were doing.

* * *

"Well have a good day Wataru," said Masaomi as he dropped off his brother at school.

"Bye Masaomi," said Wataru as he got out of the car. As he got out he saw Kimi's friend Mura running up to the car with a smile.

"Hi," she said. She looked around confused, "Where's Kimi?"

"I'm sorry sweetie, but Kimi's not feeling well today so she had to stay home," Masaomi said rolling down his window.

"She's not?" said Mura sadly, "Oh that's too bad! I was looking forward to having her on the field trip!"

"I take it you're Kimi's friend Mura?" Masaomi asked.

"Yeah I really like her," said Mura.

"She really seems to like you too," said Masaomi, "And I'm sure she was really looking forward to being with you on the field trip as well."

"So Kimi's not coming today?" Miss Hogo asked as she came up to the car as well, "That answer's my question."

"I'm afraid not," said Masaomi, "So were you still going to come by the house today?"

"I'm going to try my hardest," said Miss Hogo.

"Good," said Masaomi, "That's really good!"

"May I come over to see Kimi today too?" Mura asked.

"Oh sure, I bet Kimi would love to see you too," said Masaomi.

"Thank you," said Mura, "I think I may even buy her a gift while we're at the zoo!"

"Hmm I can see why Kimi thinks so highly of you. You're such a nice girl yourself," said Masaomi.

"Thank you," said Mura.

"Come on Mura. We should get to class so we can make get going on our trip," said Miss Hogo leading her student away, "I'll see you later today Mr. Asahina."

"Yes I look forward to it,"said Masaomi.

* * *

"Here we go Kimi," said Tsubaki coming into the room with a portable TV which he quickly started to set up, "Now we just need the DVD player and we'll be all set."

"I found the DVDs," said Azusa walking into the room with his arms full, "And it wasn't easy in that mess of a room you have."

"I told you, the mess helps me feel comfortable," said Tsubaki heading out of the room.

"Here Kimi, would you like to watch this?" Azusa asked sitting on the bed with her and showing her one of the DVD. All over the over were pictures of two kids and zoo animals. "It's about two kids who find a way to talk with some of the animals at the zoo and they help the animals stop the evil zookeeper. Your brother Tsubaki and I both talked a character in it."

"Huh?" said Kimi.

"Well when you watch it you'll be able to understand," said Azusa.

"Here we go," said Tsubaki as he came back in with the DVD player and set it up as well, "Who's ready to see her big brother be an elephant?"

Soon the show was playing on the TV. Kimi really liked to enjoyed the bright pictures and the way the animals were talking to the kids on the show. Until at one point she happened to hear the elephant speak to the kids.

"Is that Tsubaki's voice?!" she asked out loud.

"You recognize me huh?" said Tsubaki proudly, "Wait until you hear the birdy."

"Birdy?" said Kimi.

"He doesn't show up until show 8 remember?" said Azusa.

"Still though," said Tsubaki, "I bet Kimi's in for a big surprised."

"Is Azusa's voice the voice of the birdy?" asked Kimi.

"Yep," said Tsubaki.

"Oh I want to see the birdy with Azusa's voice!" said Kimi. However when episode 8 came up with the bird Kimi was surprised about the big's character.

"The birdy's working with the bad guy!" she said looking up at Azusa, "You'e not a bad guy Azusa!"

"I know," said Azusa, "But it's just pretend Kimi."

"I don't know sometimes you can act a little evil," said Tsubaki, "Watch out Kimi, he might try to get you!" He reached over and tickled her a little. Kimi giggled but shook her head no.

"Azusa's not mean!" she insisted.

"Thank you Kimi," said Azusa, "Let's keep watching the show. Are you liking it at least even though I'm a bad guy?"

"Yeah!" said Kimi watching more of the shows and feeling a whole lot better.


	31. Chapter 31

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS' CONFLIC IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi was surprised how nice of a day she was having despite having to stay in her bed for most of it. She was having fun just watching the TV Show Tsubaki and Azusa had set up for her.

She giggled loudly when the elephant Tsuabki talked squirted some water onto the evil zookeeper.

"You're liking the show Kimi?" Azusa asked.

"Mmmhm, it's so funny!" said Kimi.

"It's been a long time since we last we did a show mostly aimed towards little kids huh?" asked Tsubaki.

"That's becuase you said they were boring and lame and not worth our time," said Azusa.

"Hmm well maybe it's time to reconsider doing them again if it does things like bring a smile to someone like Kimi," sad Tsubaki, "What do you think Kimi? Do you think youre big brother should do a kids' show again?"

Kimi just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know," she said, "Can we put the new show on?"

"Oh right sure," said Azusa, "Looks like its time to switch DVDs."

Before Azusa could switch out the DVDs and start up the show again, the group was suprised by the sound of Kimi's door opening.

"Hey can you guys learn to keep it down?!" Futo asked annoyed walking in.

"It's not that loud," said Tsubaki.

"What are you even doing here?" Azusa asked.

"I had somme time off from my ever busy schedule so I decided to come home and rest a bit which is very difficult with you two blasting the TV so loudly," said Futo, "What are you two even doing in here? And why is she?" He pointed at Kimi.

"She's sick so she had to ay home. And since Tsubaki and I were free today we're watching her," Azusa explained.

"Wait she's sick?!" said Futo as he backed away in fear, "She's sick and you're letting her be here around me?! I cannot afford to get sick! I'm too important!"

"She's not that sick calm down," said Azusa. He reached over and felt Kimi's forehead. "In fact her fever's almost gone. Masaomi just insisted she stay home so she could recover and not infect the other children."

"That's no excuse!" said Futo, "Her germs could still be floating around in the air! I could already be infected!" He covered his mouth with his shirt and ran out of the room, "Thanks a lot Kimi, for nothing!"

"Huh?" said Kimi.

"Don't listen to him Kimi. You didn't do anything wrong," said Tsubaki.

"Mmmhmm," said Kimi. She gave off a little yawn.

"Why don't we call it quits on the show for now and take a nap?" Azusa asked.

"Oh do we have to?" Tsubaki whined.

"It'll probably be for the best," said Azusa as he turned off TV, "we can watch this later okay Kimi?" Kimi merely nodded before yawing again.

"Come on Tsubaki, let's go," said Azusa grabbing Tsubaki by the arm and hauling him out.

"Oh and I thought we were having fun," said Tsubaki as they came out of the room.

As the two came out of Kimi's room they were surprised to get a big gust of a white cloud in their faces. It caused the two of them to cough loudly.

"What the?!" Tsubaki shouted a he and his twin tried to make their way through the cloud. There they found Futo wearing a mask and spraying a can of disinfected all over the place.

"Futo what are you doing?!" Azusa asked as he tried to fan the cloud out of his face.

"This whole place is probably infected! How could no one bother to tell me what happened and warn me not to come home?!" Futo shouted as kept spraying his can.

"Well how were we suppose to know you were going to come home?!" Tsubaki asked.

"And it's like we said she's not that sick, at least not anymore," said Azusa.

"Do you know how long germs can last air born?!" Futo asked as he kept spraying, "I have to make sure this place is as disinfected as possible!"

"Well don't go too crazy with that stuff! It's probably worse for your health than the actual germs!" said Azusa.

* * *

From inside her room, Kimi could feel herself drifting off to sleep when she started to hear her brothers shouting and some weird noise outside her room. Curious, she gout out of bed, making sure to hold on to Beenjee as she opened the door. The minute she did, some sort of white cloud covered her face making her cough worse than when she was feeling sick.

"Kimi why are you out of bed?" Azusa asked when she heard her coughing.

"Keep her away from me!" Futo shouted as he pointed the can at her.

"Don't even think about it!" said Tsubaki as he slapped his brother's can away from him.

What's going on?" Kimi asked as she kept coughing, "It's so loud."

"Futo's just trying to make sure no one else gets sick," said Azusa.

"Only he's totally taking it overboard!" said Tsubaki.

"Just go back to bed okay Kimi. We're sorry we were so loud. We'll try to keep it down okay?" Azusa gently pushing Kimi back into her room and shutting the door, "Futo stop worrying about getting sick so much and put that stuff away!"

"Fine but keep her as far away from me as possible! In fact you two should stay away from me too if you've been around her all day!" Futo said backing away from the two,

"Yeah of course," said Tsubaki, only to suddenly let out a cough right in Futo's face.

"Tsubaki!" Futo shouted as he raced away.

"Really, did you have to do that?" Azusa asked.

"Oh come on it's not like I'm contagious or something," said Tsubaki.

* * *

'I hope I got home in time,' Masato thought as he pulled back up to the condo. He looked at the time and realized it was just about time for Wataru's school to be out. That meant that hopefully Kimi's calss was done with their field trip which meant that most likely Miss Hogo was going to coming to the condo to check on Kimi, along with Kimi's friend Mura.

Just as he got out of the car, he saw Ukyo's car pulling up and Ukyo getting out looking at his watch.

"Ukyo, aren't you home early?" Masaomi asked as he got out of his car.

"Huh?" Ukyo turned around surprised to his older brother, "Oh you're home already huh?"

"Well yeah, I have to check on Kimi and be here when her teacher and friend come over to check on her," said Masaomi.

"Oh well that's why I'm here too," said Ukyo.

"Are you sure it's okay to be home from work so early though?" Masaomi asked as they walked inside.

"It's fine I can manage it," said Ukyo, "But what about you? Are you sure you can afford to be taking off from work so early?"

"It's fine, it's for a good cause," said Masaomi. As they came in they were surprised to see Futo walking around spraying the his air can all over the living room.

"This isn't what I had in mind when I said I wanted to come home and rest!" they heard him mutter.

"Futo, what are you doing?" Masaomi asked.

"You!" Futo shouted when he saw Masaomi, "quick look me over. I need to make sure I'm not sick!"

"What makes you think you might be sick?" Masaomi asked.

"That annoying little sister of ours is sick and therefore can make of us sick as well!" said Futo. He tossed his can of disinfected at Ukyo, "Here you, do your best to make sure this place is germ free! That's what you're good at right?"

"Is Kimi still sick?" Masaomi asked.

"How should I know?" Futo asked, "I can't be around her! Not if I don't want to get sick as well!"

"I'll just go and check her room real fast," said Masaomi.

"Hey what about me?" Futo asked. Masaomi went and put his hand on his brother's forehead.

"You're fine don't worry," said Masaomi as he and Ukyo walked off.

* * *

"Is that the end?" Kimi asked once again watching the zoo show with her brothers. After her nap, she had got to enjoy a good lunch and had resumed watching the zoo show.

"Yeah that's it," said Tsubaki. In the end the animals and the two children had not only managed to get the evil zookeeper fired but the elephant himself had managed to toss him out of the zoo. Plus the evil bird lost all of his feathers.

"What did you think Kimi?" Azusa asked.

"I like it!" said Kimi as she gave her own elephant a hug, "I wonder if the real zoo is like that!"

"I doubt it," said Azusa with a chuckle.

"Hello Kimi?" Masaomi said as he and Ukyo walked into her room.

"Oh what's going on here?" asked Ukyo.

"Azusa and Tsubaki were showing me a TV show where they talked a birdy and and elephant just like Beenjee!" said Kimi.

"You didn't just let her watch TV all day did you?" asked Masaomi.

"No, we made sure she took a nap and ate some lunch," said Tsubaki.

"Hmm," muttered both older brothers not sounding like they were all that convinced. Masaomi made his way over to Kimi and felt her forehead.

"How are feeling Kimi?" he asked.

"A lot better," said Kimi.

"You sound better," said Masaomi.

"She really has been doing better all day," said Azusa, "Can't even tell she was sick."

"Good," said Masaomi, "I'm sure you're teacher and friend will be happy to hear that. Your friend Mura asked if she could come over today too after school to see you and I told her she could."

"Mura's coming over?!" said Kimi excited.

"Hopefully, along with Miss Hogo," said Masaomi, "That reminds me. I should go change for when she comes over."

You're changing?" Ukyo asked.

"Well I want to look my best for when Miss Hogo comes over," said Masaomi.

"You're right. I should go change too then," said Ukyo. The two of them hurried out.

"You know it's kind of interesting watching the two of them going on like that over the Little Kimi's teacher. It makes me wonder how hot she is," said Tsubaki.

"Huh?" said Kimi.

"Tsubaki, don't be talking like that in front Kimi," said Azusa.

"Oh she has no reason to be jealous. Everyone already knows Kimi's the most beautiful girl in the world," said Tsubaki winking at Kimi, "Follow closely by our other sister of course."

"You think I'm pretty Tsubaki?" asked Kimi.

"Are you kidding Little Kimi? If you weren't my sister I'd want to marry you some day," said Tsubaki. Kimi giggled and blushed at the same time.

"Well good thing you are her brother and she's safe from something like that," said Azusa.

"Oh what does that mean?" Tsubaki asked, "Kimi, you'd want to marry me if you could right?"

"Uh I don't know," said Kimi, "Can't you just stay my brother?" Tsubaki just laughed.

"Sure," he said pulling Kimi close, "For you I will stay your great big brother okay?"

"Okay, thank you Tsubaki," said Kimi. She liked the idea of her brothers just stay her brothers for now.


	32. Chapter 32

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE FOR FORM

As Wataru was getting ready to leave school for the day he found himself almost going towards the usual meeting spot where he and Kimi would wait for Ema and Yusuke. However he had to stop himself when he remembered that Kimi wasn't here today and he got to go home on his own. That was something that made him feel sad since he was really enjoying getting to do things like walking home with his brothers and sisters instead of alone like he use to. He gave off a sigh and started to head off home like he was supposed to.

"Wataru, Wataru Asahina?"

Huh?" Wataru said looking around for who was calling out his name. He turned and saw Kimi's teacher Miss Hogo hurrying over to him.

"Hi, are your older brother and sister coming to pick you up today?" she asked.

"Uh no since it's just me they don't have to," said Wataru.

"Oh I see, well I was going to your home anyway to see Kimi myself. Would you like a ride?" Miss Hogo asked.

"Sure thank you!" said Wataru walking off with the teacher.

"I sure do hope your sister is feeling better," Miss Hogo.

"Well Masaomi-Bro said she should be better by the time we all got home from school," said Wataru.

"Masaomi, he's the doctor right?" said Miss Hogo

"Right!" said Wataru.

"Well, if we were to trust anyone's judgment it'd be his huh?" said Miss Hogo.

When they got to her car they found Mura, Kimi's friend, waiting for them as well. She was holding something in her hands.

"Ready to go Mura?" Miss Hogo asked.

"Yes, but why is he here?" Mura asked.

"Well he is Kimi's brother and therefore it would be nice to give him a ride home don't you think?" asked Miss Hogo as she opened the door for the two children.

"Oh," said Mura looking at Wataru with slight nervousness. She still felt slightly afraid of Wataru ever since he first yelled at her and some of the other children for accidentally hitting Kimi on the head.

"What's that in your hands?" Wataru asked.

"Oh it's a toy I got for Kimi since she couldn't come to the zoo with us today," said Mura.

"Oh, you're such a nice friend to Kimi!" said Wataru. "I kind of wish I never yelled at you and the others that one time."

"It's okay really," said Mura though she was still feeling scared of the boy next to her.

* * *

"It sure does feel weird not having to go to the elementary school to pick up Wataru and Kimi huh?" said Ema as she and Yusuke walked home.

"Eh I'm sure the little twerp won't mind too much having to walk home by himself," said Yusuke.

"Still though, do you think we should just seeing by to check on him?" Ema asked.

"No I'm sure he's going to make it home just fine," said Yusuke. Suddenly they heard a horn honking behind them. They turned around to see a car they didn't recognize driving up behind them. It stopped next to them and driver rolled down the window.

"You're Kimi Asahina's brother and sister right?" asked the driver.

"Yeah and who are you?" Yusuake asked.

"Yusuake, that's Kimi's teacher Miss Hogo!" said Ema.

"Oh," said Yusuke, "Hi."

"Are you two heading home?" Miss Hogo asked.

"Uh yes," said Ema.

"Would you like a ride?" asked Miss Hogo, "I'm already taking your brother Wataru and one of Kimi's friends Mura to your house as well." At that the back passenger's window was rolled down and there was Wataru's face.

"Big Sister, Yusuke hi!" he said. Behind them they two teenagers could see Kimi's friend sitting in the middle of the seat.

"Hi," she said waving.

"Hi," Ema said, "Sure, we'd love to get a ride."

"Hop in," said Miss Hogo, "One of you can sit up front while the other sits in the back with the kids."

"Yusuke, do you want to sit in the front?" Ema asked.

"Uh no you can sit up front. Be my guest," said Yusuke as he moved around and took the seat in the back on the other side of Mura. The little girl looked scared of the big boy sitting next to her.

"It's so sweet you're both coming to see Kimi like this," said Ema as Miss Hogo took off again towards the compound.

"Well as Kimi's teacher I do feel a certain obligation to make sure she's doing okay," said Miss Hogo.

"And I like Kimi," said Mura, "I even got her a toy while we were at the zoo today."

"Oh you're so sweet to Kimi Mura," said Ema smiling at Mura.

"Wow and I thought Kimi was lucky to have so many cool brothers. I didn't realize how cool her sister was too," said Mura.

"Oh thank you Mura," said Ema, "I can see why Kimi likes having you as a friend." Mura giggled and blushed.

* * *

"I wonder if Miss Hogo and Mura are going to be here soon," said Kimi looking out her window and wondering if it was time school was let out.

"It'd be kind of interesting to see if that teacher showed up before Masaomi and Ukyo were done changing. Just to see her catch them off guard," said Tsubaki laughing at the thought.

"Tsubaki be nice about that," said Azusa.

"What's he talking about?" Kimi asked.

"Don't worry about it," said Azusa.

"Knock-knock," the three heard someone say as they walked into the room. They all turned and saw it was Hikaru wearing a nurse's outfit.

"Hikaru are you playing dress up again?" Kimi asked. Hikaru laughed.

"Well actually I heard there was a sick little girl here and I had to make sure she's feeling better," he said, "And I figured I'd better play the part if you need some more care and treatment."

"Sure that's the only reason you're dressed like that," said Tsubaki.

"And just how is our sweet Kimi feeling?" Hikaru asked as he watched over and gently picked Kimi up.

"I'm feeling a lot better," said Kimi.

"Oh you mean Nurse Hikaru was late?" asked Hkaru.

"You could say that," said Azusa.

"Oh well next time Nurse Hikaru will do his best to make sure he's here when his patient needs him. Especially if she's someone as cute as you Kimi," said Hikaru tapping Kimi's nose.

"Thank you for caring Hikaru," said Kimi.

"Hello, is Little Chi here?" Louis asked walking into the room. He paused when he saw the scene in front of him. "Oh does this mean that you're feeling better Little Chi?"

"Oh yeah I'm feeling much better," said Kimi, "I'm just waiting for my teacher and friend Mura. Masaomi said they were coming over. "

"Oh are they?" said Louis, "I'll be right back then."

"Where he's going?" Kimi.

"He's always working isn't he?" said Hikaru with a smirk. Soon Louis came back holding various hair care items.

"Louis, you're not going to try and do her hair now are you?" Azusa asked.

"Well if she's feeling better, having her hair done might make her feel even better. Besides she might as well look her best for her friends when they come here," said Louis, "Now then could Little Chi and I get some privacy?"

"Sure if you're insisting on this," said Azusa as the three other brothers headed out.

"You know when you're done maybe you should look into seeing is Masaomi and Ukyo want their hair done as well," said Tsubaki, "You know to help impress Kimi's teacher."

"Hmm, what's this all about?" Hikaru asked sounding really interested.

"Oh well let's just say there's a good theory going around that Ukyo and Masaomi may have the hots for Kimi's teacher," said Tsubaki.

"Really, that's an interesting development," said Hikaru looking amused.

* * *

"Wow you have a big house," said Mura when Miss Hogo finally arrived at the condo.

"Well they do have a big family," said Miss Hogo.

"How do you keep from getting lost all the time?" Mura asked.

"You get use to it after a while," said Ema, "It's actually a nice place to live."

"It's okay," said Yusuke.

"Hey looks is that Natsume's car?" Wataru asked as another car pulled up in front of condo.

"Oh I think you're right," said Ema.

"What's he doing here?" Yusuke.

"Well maybe he's come to check on Kimi," said Ema.

"That doesn't sound like him," said Yusuake.

"Natsume, he's the brother who works with my brother isn't he?" asked Miss Hogo.

"Uh your brother?" said Ema.

Just then the group all saw not only the driver side of of Natsume's car opening but also the passenger side opening and both Natsume and what looked like a giant getting out.

"Whoa who's that?" asked Mura.

"Well the big guy's my brother," said Miss Hog, "I don't get why he's here though."

"Natsume, hi," said Ema waving over at him.

"Oh hi," said Natsume.

"Natsume what are you doing here?" asked Wataru.

"Well I was wondering how Kimi was doing personally and somehow my colleague Mr. Hogo found out his sister was coming by to check on her student and thought it was best to come be here with her being around so many men," said Natsume.

"Oh Chomie you didn't," moaned Miss Hogo.

"You're my sister, I have to always be on my guard to make sure no weird man does something unspeakable of towards you," said Chomie.

"Oh for crying out loud! I'm just here to check on my student, that's all. I doubt her family's going to do something weird to me while I'm here!" said Miss Hogo.

"One cannot be too careful when one's sister is so cute!" her brother.

"Whatever I'm going in!" said Miss Hogo clearly sounding annoyed.

"Some people just don't appreciate their family," said Chomie as the others all followed Miss Hogo in.

* * *

"We're home," Ema called out as the group all walked in.

"And we brought Little Sister's teacher and friend!" said Wataru.

"Oh welcome home," said Azusa as the group all came into the living room where he Tsubaki and Hikaru were all sitting.

"Oh and it looks like Natsume and a giant are here too," sid Tsubaki.

"Surprise to see you here Natsume," said Azusa.

"Well I was a little bit curious to see how Kimi was doing," said Natsume, "And my colleague was somewhat determined to make sure his sister was well protected while she was here checking on her student."

"Where is Kimi anyway?" asked Ema.

"I'll go get her," said Azusa.

"And I guess we should let Masaomi and Ukyo know you're all here," said Tsubaki with a smirk as he walked off.

Mura meanwhile stared hard at Hikaru.

"Are you the brother that Kimi says like to play dress up?" she asked.

"Why yes I am," said Hikaru as he stood up and twirled around in his nurse costume, "What do you think? Do I look like a good nurse or what?"

"Uh sure?" said Mura.

"More like a freak," said Chomie.

"Chomie shush!" snapped his sister, "Don' t forget he's your co-worker's brother!"

"I'd like to forget forget that once and a while," said Natsume.

* * *

"Well Little Chi, what do you think?" Louis asked holding a mirror up for Kimi to see what he had done to her hair.

"Wow it looks so pretty," said Kimi.

"It only looks that way because you're so pretty," said Louis.

"You think so?" asked Kimi.

"Of course, my little sister is very pretty with her golden hair and adorable face," said Louis.

"Kimi your teacher and friend are here," said Azusa walking into the room, "Ah good job again Louis."

"Naturally," said Louis, "Come on Little Chi, let's go see your friends."

"Yeah!" said Kimi.

"Oh, Natsume's here too," said Azusa, "Along with your teacher's brother."

"Why is he here?" Kimi asked.

"Well Little Chi if there's one thing you should know about brothers is that sometimes their actions make only sense to them alone," said Louis. Kimi actually giggled at that.

"Yeah that's true!" she said, "But I love the way most of my brothers act!"


	33. Chapter 33

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS' CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

"Oh Masaomi," Tsubaki asked knocking on his big brother's door.

"Yes Tsubaki?" Masaomi said answering his door.

"Just thought I should let you know we have guests here including a certain teacher," said Tsubaki.

"Oh Miss Hogo is here?" said Masaomi.

"Mmmhmm, and I believe that she mentioned something about a brother," said Tsubaki.

"Huh?" said Masaomi.

"Well in either case you probably shouldn't be keeping such a woman waiting don't you think?" said Tsubaki smirking as he walked off.

"Oh right tell her I'll be right down," said Masaomi.

"Of course," said Tusbaki. However instead of heading back downstairs he went and knocked on Ukyo's door.

"What?" Ukyo asked as he answered the door.

"Oh nothing, I just thought you'd like to know that we have company, including a certain teacher," said Tusbaki.

"Teacher, as in Miss Hogo? She's here already?" asked Ukyo.

"Yes and I do believe she was talking about someone's big brother," said Tusbaki.

"Huh, a brother?" said Ukyo.

"Yeah you better hurry so you don't keep the little lady waiting," said Tusbaki.

"Right let her know I'll be right down," said Ukyo closing his door again.

"Of course," said Tsubaki. He smirked as he made his way back towards the living room. He looked down at the group all standing around waiting.

'Hmm I wonder if I shouldn't have mentioned it was her own brother she was talking about?' he thought.

"Are you sure I'm looking okay?" he heard Kimi say. Tsubaki turned around and saw Kimi, Louis and Azusa heading his way.

"Trust me Little Chi you look great," said Louis.

"Wow Louis you sure know your stuff huh?" said Tsubaki.

"What can I say? Little Chi has great hair to style," said Louis.

Kimi held Louis's hand as the two walked down the stairs to the living room where everyone else was still waiting.

"Hi," she said timidly.

"Kimi!" said Mura running over to her friend, "Hi how are you?!"

"I'm feeling better," said Kimi, "How was the zoo?"

"Great look what I got for you!" said Mura showing Kimi the toy she had been holding. It happened to be a stuff giraffe.

"You got this for me?" Kimi asked with delight taking the toy and holding it close, "Oh thank you!"

"Yeah I hope you like it. They were all out of elephants and I know how much you like elephants," said Mura.

"No no I like it!" said Kimi hugging her new toy.

"You sure are looking better Kimi," said Miss Hogo moving closer to her.

"Well my brother Louis did do my hair before I came down," said Kimi.

"Oh so this is the famous brother who enjoys doing hair including a monster," said Miss Hogo.

"Yes I do enjoy doing hair," said Louis.

"Interesting," said Miss Hogo, "It's really nice to be meeting more of Kimi's brothers like this. She's always talking so fondly of you. But where are the two older ones, the ones that are usually taking Kimi and Wataru to school?"

"Oh they'll be right down I'm sure," said Tsubaki.

"Hmm is that little girl really your sister Asahina?" Chomie asked Natsume.

"Well technically she's adopted," said Natsume, "Why do you ask?"

"It's just her hair reminds me of someone I used to know back at my old company before I transferred to our company. When my sister got a job at a school here," said Chomie, "There was this intern that had hair real similar to your sister's. She was half German or something like that. That was four or five years ago."

"Hmm?" said Natsume, "You say you knew a girl who had hair like Kimi's?"

"Yeah, Ichigi might have known her too. He used to work at the same company but he transferred around the same time too," said Chomie.

"Did he?" said Natsume, "I may have to ask him about it."

* * *

Both Masaomi and Ukyo practically came running out of their rooms almost bumping into each other.

"You seem to be in a hurry," said Masaomi as he started to move towards the living room.

"Well I heard that Kimi's teacher was here and I didn't want to keep her waiting," said Ukyo.

"Oh yes, we shouldn't keep her waiting. She sounded interested in talking to us I think," said Masaomi, "Or one of Kimi's brothers."

"Yes I heard that too," said Ukyo.

"Well she probably wants to talk to me since I'm a doctor and probably wants to talk to me about Kimi's condition," said Masaomi.

"You?" said Ukyo, "Hey I've been helping to look after her too you know. And I would like to point out I met her first when I dropped Kimi off on her first day of school."

"What has that got to do with anything?" asked Masaomi.

"I'm saying, I'm sure you don't have to just assume she'd want to talk only to you," said Ukyo, "She said brother and last time I checked there's at least 13 of us right?"

"Yes but I'm also the oldest," said Masaomi.

"Your point being?" Ukyo said.

"That as the oldest brother I'm the one that's usually most responsible for this family while our parents are away," said Masaomi, "And as such I'm usually the ones that deals with teachers."

"Hey I'be done my fair share of dealing with teachers," said Ukyo, "And even though I'm just the second there could be a chance that she wants me!"

"What do you mean my little sister wants you?"

"Huh?" said Masaomi and Ukyo suddenly realizing they were in the living room and surrounded by their siblings, Mura and the two Hogo's siblings. Chomie wasn't looking too happy at the moment.

"Uh, hello everyone," said Masaomi.

"I hope you didn't hear most of the conversation," said Ukyo as both he and Masaomi started to turn red.

"We were a good portion of it," said Tusbaki smirking.

"You two have some sort infatuation with my sister?!" Chomie Hogo asked walking over to the to men.

"Tsubaki,is this the brother you mentioend that Miss Hogo was talking about?" Masaomi asked.

"Well of course who else would I be talking about?" Tsubaki said not doing too good of a job at containing his laughing.

"You are pathetic you know that?" said Natsume.

"Chomie leave them alone," Miss Hogo ordered her brother as she grabbed him by the ear, "If you're going to act like that we're leaving right now!"

"That's a good idea, get you away from all these evil men!" said Chomie Hogo as he started to move towards the door, "Come on Akemi"

"They're not evil Chomie, and I do still want to talk to these two men," said Akemi, "I just wanted to know that Kimi really is doing okay and will be back to school on Monday."

"Oh yes she'll definetley be back at school come Monday," said Masaomi.

"Good that's good to know," said Miss Hogo.

"Akemi!" her brother shouted.

"I'll be right there Chomie!" she shouted back, "Sorry about him."

"Sorry if you heard our little arguemnt as well," said Masaomi.

"I thought it was kind of interesting personally," said Miss Hogo, "It's good to know you two can argue like real brothers."

"Well we usually get along a lot better than that," said Ukyo.

"It's fine. Oh I hope it's alright but since Mura was coming by to see Kimi I volunteered to take after talking with her mother and she arranged it so Mura's father would come by when he gets off owrk to pick her up," said Miss Hogo.

"Oh that's just fine," said Masaomi, "It'll be good for Kimi to be with children her own age."

"Thanks," said Miss Hogo.

"Akemi!" Chomie shuted out again.

"Alright I'm coming!" Miss Hogo shouted back, "I should go, see you men later, bye for now."

"Bye," said the two men waving as Miss Hogo went after her brothe.

"So I guess it's a good thing she's not too mad over hearing our conversation," said Ukyo.

"Yes but where was that conversation going?" Masaomi asked.

"I don't know yet, hopefully it won't take a negative turn," said Ukyo.

* * *

"It's good to know you're feeling a lot better Kimi," said Natsume patting Kimi on her head.

"Thank you Natsume," said Kimi.

"I have something of interest for you," said Nastume pulling something out of his coat pocket.

"Is it a new game Natsume?" Ema asked.

"Not exactly," said Natsume showing everyone a pamphlet of an art museum. "My company is sponsoring an exhibit about video game art work for children. It has different art works from different games, and it also has a chance for them to drawn and design their own video game characters. I thought Kimi might like to try to do it since she couldn't go to the zoo with her classmates."

"Oh that does sound like fun," said Ema.

"What was that?" Masaomi started to come back along with Ukyo.

"Masaomi can we go here this weekend for Kimi? Can we Can we?!" Wataru said yanking the pamphlet from Natsume and showing it to Masaomi.

"Oh sure I don't see why we can try this," said Masaomi looking it over.

"I want to try going there too. It sounds like fun!" said Mura, "Can I take this to show my mommy and daddy?"

"Oh sure I have a spare," said Natsume pulling out another one.

"Thank you," said Mura. Just then everyone heard a doorbell ringing.

"I'll get it," said Masaomi heading to the door. There he saw a fine looking man in a suit waiting.

"Hi is this the Asahina residents?" he asked, "I'm here to pick up my daughter, Mura."

"Oh yes, I was told you were coming by. Please come in, Mura's in the living room with Kimi," said Masaomi leading the man to the living room.

"Are you Kimi's father or brother? Mura said she has a lot of brothers," said Mura's father.

"I'm her oldest brother Masaomi," siad Masaomi.

"Are her parents here at all?" asked Mura's father.

"No I'm afraid not. They're both still in California," said Masaomi.

"And Kimi lives here with all these differenet men?" Mura's father asked.

"We take good care of her," said Masaomi.

"I would imagine," said Mura's father, "I guess its just unusual for me for such a thing like this."

"Hi Daddy!" Mura said when she saw her father and running straight to him.

"Hi honey, how was your time here?" Mura's father asked as he scooped her up, "Did you give your friend her present?"

"Uh-huh, and she liked it!" said Mura.

"Very much!" said Kimi.

"Well good, I think it was sweet you cared so much to do something so much for your friend,"Mura's father said, "Maybe soon we'll be able to have her come over to our home."

"Sure," said Masaomi, "I think we can arrange that."

"Well have a good day everyone," said Mura's father as he carried his daughter to the front door.

"Daddy can we try going here this weekend?" Mura asked showing her dad the pamphlet Natsume gave her.

"Well see," said Mura's father. He turned and looked at all the brothers still standing in the living room.

'Is it really right to have a girl Kimi's age living with all these men?' he kept thinking. He didn't want to think ill of this family but it also didn't seem right to him.


	34. Chapter 34

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi kept looking at the brochure Natsume gave her. The different drawings in it looked interesting. She didn't think she could ever draw as good as this.

"Kimi are you thinking you'd like to try going there?" Natsume asked.

"I want to go! I want to go!" Wataru shouted excited.

"That's nice and all Wataru but this kind of Kimi's choice seeing as how I came here to offer her to visit since she had to miss her class trip," said Natsume.

"Oh right," said Wataru.

"I kind of like to go," said Kimi, "It sounds like fun."

"Yay! We get to go see the cool video game art museum!" said Wataru.

"What happened?" asked Masaomi walking back to the family room with Ukyo.

"We get to go here! Kimi said she wants to go here!" said Wataru.

"That sounds like a goo idea," said Masaomi, "Maybe we should try going on Sunday so we can see how many of us can go to it."

"Oh that should give Yusuke and I time to finish our project for Monday," said Ema. She tugged at Yusuke's arm.  
"Come on let's get it finished so we can go to the museum. I want to see these drawings too."

"Oh sure," said Yusuke.

"Don't have too much fun now you two," said Tsubaki as the two teenagers headed out. They could hear a slight bitterness in his voice. Just as Ema and Yusuake were gone however everyone was distracted by a weird hissing sound followed by a white cloud.

"Futo are you still going on about that?" Masaomi asked as Futo came back in still spraying his can of disinfection all over the place, "I keep telling you Kimi's fine."

"Yeah she's even out of bed," said Wataru.

"She's what?!" said Futo noticing the little girl standing in the room. "Keep her away from me!" He pointed the can right at her.

"Give me that!" Ukyo snapped snatching his brother's can from him, "I won't let you keep spraying this around the house, doing how knows what kind of damage to it!"

"Come Kimi let's go back to your room how about for now?" asked Masaomi offering Kimi his hand.

"Oh come on, let her stretch her legs a little. She's been cooped up in her room all day as it is," said Tsubaki.

"If she's staying down here then I'm going to my room. No wait forget that! I'm going back to the studio!" said Futo, "I'll see you all later and you!" He pointed to Kimi, "If I get sick from you, you better be prepared for a punishment!"

"What?" asked Kimi.

"Futo, you're overreacting. Just go back to the studio like you said or go to your own room. Kimi's staying down here as long she wants. Tsubaki's right she should stretch her legs a little," said Masaomi.

"Fine fine I'm out of here!" said Futo as he started to storm off.

"Did I do bad by getting sick?" Kimi asked timidly.

"No people get sick, it happens," said Azusa.

"Yeah if anything it's Wataru's fault for taking you out without your coat," said Natsumi.

"Natsumi, don't be like that," said Masaomi.

"What was that?" Futo asked turning around, "It's his fault? God little kids are such a nuisance!"

"Now as much as you can be. Weren't you going?" Tsubaki asked.

"Oh yes the sooner I'm away from such little annoyances the better," said Futo as he hurried off.

"I swear he gets more annoying everytime I see him," said Nastumi, "I should go. If you do go to the museum on Sunday let me know. I'll join you. Bye for now Kimi I'm glad you're better."

"Thank you Natsumi," said Kimi. She looked down at her new toy from Mura. "I think I'm going to go back to my room anyway. I want to show Beenjee my new toy!"

"Why don't you bring Beenjee down here instead so you can play out here in the open?" Masaomi suggested.

"Okay," said Kimi as she hurried off. She grabbed Beenjee and took him back down stairs where she left the giraffe. "Look Beenjee, you have a new friend! My friend Mura got him for me! What do you think?"

"Let me see him," said Tsubaki taking Beenjee. He started to talk in his elephant voice. "Hmm, I think you're going to fit in here just fine and I think we're going to be good friends. Just remember she was mine first and you better not make her think you're better than me!"

"Tsubaki!" Kimi said giggling as she took her toy back, "Beenjee not like that!"

"Yeah I have to agree, Beenjee's too nice for something right," said Azusa. Kimi giggled at that too.

"I wonder what I'm going to call him," she said looking at her giraffe.

"How do we know it's a him? Maybe it's a her," Hikaru spoke up.

"A girl?" Kimi asked.

Hikaru took the toy and looked it over, "Yes if I were to guess this is most definitely a girl giraffe. You should give her a girl name I think Kimi. Maybe you should try naming her after your sweet friend who got her for you."

"You think so?" Kimi asked.

"Or maybe you could combined her name with your own to create a whole name, something like oh I don't know Mimi?" Hikaru suggested.

"Mimi, Mimi the giraffe," Kimi said looking her toy over, "Yeah I like that name!" She hugged both Mimi and Beenjee tight, "I'm going love you just as much as I have Beenjee forever Mimi!

* * *

Kimi spent the rest of the day and most of the next day playing with her new toy and her old toy, usually with one or more of her big brothers. Mostly it was Wataru but Kimi didn't mind. Kimi was having such a nice time she totally forgot how upset she was that she hadn't been able to go to the zoo with her class. Plus she was super excited about getting to go to museum and see all the pretty drawings Natsumi had told her about.

On Sunday Kimi got up super early and dressed so she and her family could go to the museum. As she came running out of her room she nearly ran into Wataru.

"Little Sister, are you excited?! We get to go see the all those cool drawings of different video game characters!" he said.

"Yeah I'm really excited!" said Kimi, "We should go now!" The two kids raced down stairs and were about to run towards the door when they were both caught up in a pair of big arms.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Masaomi asked as he and Ukyo both pulled them back.

"We're going to the fun museum!" said Wataru.

"That's not until later," said Ukyo, "you two should have something to eat first. After we have breakfast we can go okay?"

"Okay," moaned the two kids as they followed their two big brothers to the kitchen where Ukyo had already gotten breakfast prepared and set on the table. Both kids climbed up and started to enjoy their meal.

"Good morning," said Ema walking into the kitchen, "I thought I heard you two running around this morning. Are you excited about going to the museum?"

"Yeah!" said Wataru and Kimi.

"I'm so glad that Yusuke and I got our project all done so I can go with you!" said Ema sitting down next to Kimi, "It's going to be a fun day with our family I just know it!"

"I think you're right," said Masaomi, "Is Yusuke coming down?"

"I don't know. We were up really late working on our project and he offered to stay up even longer to make sure it was perfect so that I can go to sleep so I can go with you all today. I told him it wasn't necessary but he still insisted," said Ema.

"Yusuke staying up late to work on school work? What has the world come to?" Tsubaki asked as he and Azusa came into the kitchen.

"Ah good morning Tsubaki, Good morning Azusa," said Ema, "are you two coming with us to the museum?"

"Sure, some of those characters they're going to have paintings of were characters we helped bring to life," said Azusa, "It'll be nice to see them up close."

"Bring to life?" asked Kimi.

"That's right Kimi, Azua and I have special powers that help bring drawings to life," said Tsubaki.

"No," said Azusa smacking Tsubaki on the head, "What I mean is Kimi you remember how Tsubaki and I talked that bird and elephant in that show we watched yesterday? Well we've done that before with some other characters and some of their pictures are going to be at the museum today."

"Oh," said Kimi, "Do you voice lots of different characters?"

"Oh yes, lots!" said Tsubaki, "Everyone just loves the sound of our voices! Don't you Kimi, or you Ema?"

Both sisters looked at each other.

"You should just say yes, it'll make him feel better," said Ukyo.

"Yes," said both sister.

"See the ladies know what they like to hear," said Tsubaki. Both girls had to hide smirks under their hands.

When the family arrived at the museum, they found Natsume already there waiting outside for them.

"Good morning Natsumi," said Ema as everyone came towards the entrance where he was standing.

"Oh good morning everyone," said Natsume. He walked over to Kimi and picked her up, feeling her forehead. "It feels like you're doing much better."

"I'm a lot better!" said Kimi.

"Good, let's head inside," said Natsume not putting Kimi down as everyone walked in. In the front entrance there were all sorts of different signs and banners advertising the video game art.

"Wow, this must be a really big deal huh" said Ema looking it around.

"Well my company did put a lot of money into it so I'm not surprised. They have actual exhibits of the video arts while the they have a children's section this way. I'll take the children there myself if you'd like if you would like to look around."

"Oh I can't wait to see some of the art," said Ema walking off.

"Luckily for you, you have an excellent guid," said Tsubaki following after her.

"You'll probably try something like claiming you've talked a character in each thing we pass," said Azusa as he and Ukyo also went in the same direction.

'I think I'll go with you Natsume," said Masamoi. He and Natsume led the two smaller children to a big room exhibit that was already filled with children looking like they were having fun. There were lots of arts on the wall, mostly of art from children's video games. There was also lots of different tables set up with both things to color with and computers with different people sitting at them helping children when they came up to them with their drawings.

"What are they doing?" Masaomi asked.

"Well the kids are allowed to draw some sort of characters themselves and some of our animators are trying to put them into a mini game all their own," Natsume explained.

"Oh wow I want to do that!" said Wataru running to a table and starting to draw.

"Do you want to try too Kimi?" Natsume asked putting her down.

"Okay!" said Kimi about to run over to a table herself. However a certain adult at one of the computer tables helping to animate the children's drawings caught her attention."Is that Miss Hogo's giant brother?" she asked.

"Oh yes that's your teacher's brother. He knows enough about animation that he volunteered to help out today," said Natsume.

"Oh," said Masaomi nervously, "I supposed it's a good thing his sister's not here huh?"

"Actually my sister is here!" Chomi Hogo spoke up looking towards Masaomi with a stern look, "She's off looking at the art and I would thank you to go off looking for her!"

"Akemi Hogo is here?" Masaomi asked out loud. That meant that at this very moment there was a chance Ukyo could bump into her instead. Masaomi was feeling tempted to go look for his brother or the teacher, however the glaring looks from Mr. Hogo made him feel the need not to leave the room.

* * *

"And this charming character, voiced by me," Tsubkai boasted as he and Ema walked past a picture.

"Wow I remember that game. You're right he was done by you," said Ema thinking about the old game.

"Hmm I think I remember this game as a kid," said Ukyo looking at another piece, "It's like an earlier version of the SIMS games or something."

"Oh yeah I remember that game too,"

"Huh?" said Ukyo turning to the person next to him, "Miss Hogo!"

"Hi Mr. Asahina," said Kimi's teacher with a sweet smile, "I shouldn't be surprised you're here."

"Well I'm really happy to see you here!" said Ukyo quickly.

Azusa turned around at the sound of his brother's voice to see he was talking to Kimi's teacher.

'Oh boy, this is going to be a bit more interesting than the exhibit,' he thought slightly annoyed.

* * *

Back at children's room, Kimi and Wataru were happily drawing their pictures to be animated.

"Look at my drawing little sister!" Wataru said holding up his drawing of an action hero with a cape and Wataru's hair color, "Cool huh?!"

"Yeah," said Kimi. She held her drawing with two princess and several different princes, "This is what I did, I know it's not really good. I'm not even done coloring it yet."

"Oh no it's really good!" said Wataru, "I bet it'll look even better when it's finished being colored! I'm going to get my drawing animated okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi looking back at her drawing. She looked at one of her princes who wasn't fully colored thinking about what she should color him.

"Hmm how about blue?" she said reaching over for a blue crayon. However at the last second another hand reached out and grabbed it from her. Kimi looked up to see who's hand it was and gasped at the owner.

"Hi dork," said Aiji Ichigi sneering at the little girl.


	35. Chapter 35

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi could feel a shiver go down her spine at the sight of her bully seated in front of her. He swung the blue crayon in front of her back and forth.

"You want the crayon?" he taunted with a smirk. Kimi could feel her heart beat fast. She decided it was best to avoid the boy all together and instead moved to another coloring table. She barely sat down and started to reach for a blue crayon when once again it was snatched from her. She looked up and realized it had also been taken by Aiji.

"Ha ha I got your crayon!" he taunted some more. Kimi tucked her head low, wishing she was a turtle and could hide in her shell. She looked around for some sort of way to hopefully get away from Aiji. Finally she just got up and moved to yet another coloring table where she tried looking for another blue crayon.

"No that's mine too!" Aiji sunddely shouted as he all but dive bomb on to the table to take the crayon from Kimi again. Kimi was starting to have enough to this to the point she started to cry.

* * *

"Wow, this is quite impressive Natsume," Masaomi said as the two brothers watched one of the other animators bring a child's drawing to life on a screen of a computer.

"Oh it's pretty simple really. No matter what the characters are, there's at least six different scenes they can work the character into and interact with other characters," Natsume explained.

"Still though," said Masaomi, "I can see why the kids are enjoying it so much." The two suddenly heard a loud crying sound and followed it to see it was Kimi crying. "Kimi, what's wrong?" Masaomi asked as he raced over to Kimi and picked her up.

"He won't share the crayons!" Kimi shouted as she kept crying.

"Who won't?" Natsume asked looking over at the table where Aiji was startign to slink away. "I know you, you're Ichigi's boy aren't you?" said Natsumi, "Weren't you also the one that's been harassing her at school?"

"You're the boy who's been having problems with Kimi at school?" asked Masaomi.

"No," said Aiji.

"Yes," Kimi said softly.

"Masaomi, Natsume, Little Sister want to see my character in action?" Wataru asked running up to his big brother and tugged at Masaomi's pant leg. However he frown when he saw Aiji at the table."You!" he shouted angrily, 'What are you doing here?!"

"My daddy's helping out today!" said Aiji pointing to a man sitting at computer helping with the kids' animation. The man turned at the sound of his son's shouting.

"Aiji, son, what's wrong?!" he asked hurrying over to his son and picking him up, "Are you being harassed my poor little angel?"

"Yes Daddy," Aiji hugging his dad close, "Tell them to leave me alone!"

"Who do you think you," Ichigi stopped his rant when he realized he was standing in front of Natsume. "Oh it's you. Asahina, why are you bothering my son?"

"Well we weren't really. We were just wondering why he was making our sister cry," said Natsume.

"She's not crying," Mr. Ichigi insisted. She wasn't crying as loudly as before but tears were still coming down her cheek.

"Uh Mr. Ichigi was it?" Masaomi spoke up, "I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding going on between my brother and sister and your son. I've been hoping for a chance for us to maybe sit down and talk."

"What's there to talk about? Your kids need to learn to back off and quit gaining up on my son," said Ichigi.

"Well I still think it would be best if we could talk," said Masaomi.

"You should listen to him," said Natsume.

"I'll talk to my wife about it okay?" asked Ichigi, "But why you and not your parents?"

"I'm afraid both my parents aren't available at the moment. They're still both in California on business," said Masaomi, "As Kimi and Wataru's oldest brother I'm often called on to act as a guardian for them. If not me, one of my other brothers."

"That includes me," said Natsume, "And I agree with my big brother. You two really should sit down and talk about this whole conflict between our brother and sister and your son."

"Fine, fine I'll talk to my wife and we'll work something out," said Ichigi.

"And how about in the mean time we keep your son away from our brother and sister and we'll keep them away from your son?" Natsume suggested.

"Fine, Aiji, make sure stay away from these kids for now on okay" Ichigi asked bringing his son over to his computer.

"You okay now Kimi?" Masaomi asked Kimi asked. Kimi barely nodded. "Do you want down?" Kimi nodded. "Okay go ahead and finished your drawing so you can get it animated. I'm sure it'll look great when it's done."

"Where is the drawing?" asked Natsume.

"Here," sid Kimi holding up her picture with all her brothers as princes with she and Ema as princesses.

'Oh wow, this is nice," said Masamoi.

"I just need to finish coloring it," said Kimi.

"Oh sure go ahead," said Masamoi.

"Masa, Natsume want to see my drawing? It's been animated already!" said Wataru.

"Sure," said Masaomi. Natsume however studied Kimi's drawing carefully.

"You're really good Kimi. Do you like drawing?" he asked. Kimi nodded as she finally started to use her blue crayon to color one of her brothers' prince jackets. "When you're done we should show this to Chomi Hogo, your teacher's brother. He likes to draw too and I think he'd like it.

"Okay," said Kimi as she kept drawing, "Is Miss Hogo here?"

"Probably, but why don't you focus on drawing your characters okay?" said Natsume.

* * *

"So what brings you here today Mr. Asahina?" Akemi Hogo asked as she and Ukyo walked around the museum behind his brothers and sister.

"Well since Kimi had to miss her field trip to the zoo my brother Natsumi suggested we bring her here so she can have some fun," said Ukyo.

"Oh I see," said Akemi, "I came to support my brother. I thought it was nice when my brother said he was volunteering to help out with kids like that," said Akemi.

"Your brother's here?" asked Ukyo.

"Don't worry he's probably off at the kids' area. I doubt he's going to show up making some sort of big scene about you staying away from me," said Akemi as the two walked on.

"Oh no it's fine, really," Ukyo insisted.

"Tsubaki, you did not voice this character," the two suddenly heard Azusa say.

They looked over and saw the two brothers and Ema looking at a picture of a really handsome character from a video game.

"Yes I did, who else could give this character the sexy voice he has?" Tsubaki asked looking towards Ema as he said that.

"Actually Tsubaki if memory serves me right, Azua's correct. You didn't voice him," said Ema.

"Oh are you both calling me a lire?" Tsubaki asked. "I bet l Kimi would believe me."

"No Kimi's too smart for that," said Azusa.

"That's true, Kimi's a really smart girl," said Akemi.

"Miss Hogo hello," said Ema smiling at the woman.

"Hello everyone," said Miss Hogo, "It's nice to see all of you here."

"Surprised to see you here," said Tsubaki.

"Well I thought I'd come and see this huge thing my brother's been going on and on about," said Akemi, "I'm having a good time though. I really do enjoy having a good day at the museum. There's a lot other exhibits open in here I was thinking of going to look at as well. Would any of you like to join me?"

"Oh I'm sorry but I promised my wonderful sister I'd show her all the characters I've voiced over the years," said Tsubaki putting his arm around Ema.

"And I'm going to make sure to correct each one," said Azusa.

"Maybe just you and Ukyo should go off together," said Tsubaki smugly.

"Uh well," Ukyo sputtered.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I was just asking. I hope you all have a good time. I'm going to check out the old housing exhibit they have. It's supposed to be interactive," said Akemi as she started to walk off.

"You're really going to let her go off on her own Ukyo?" Tsubaki asked.

"Uh Miss Hogo, please wait!" Ukyo said hurrying after her.

"Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather spend time with your siblings?" asked Akemi

"Oh no it's fine," said Ukyo as they walked off together, "I like the idea of seeing this kind of exhibit."

"They do look cute together don't they?" asked Tsubaki.

"I supposed," said Azusa.

"I think it's sweet Ukyo has a friend he can be around with like that," said Ema.

"You're right, and we should get going, looking around some more," said Tsubaki, "Oh you know Azusa, maybe you'd like to go see that exhibit with Ukyo." He started to lead Ema off.

'Nice try Tsubaki," said Azusa as he followed the two of them.

* * *

"Are you really okay that you're wanting to go off like this and leave your family alone?" Akemi asked as she and Ukyo walked on together.

"Oh it's fine. To be honest the last time my mother was home she dropped a serious hint that both me and Masamoi maybe should branch out more instead of constantly focusing our time on our family," said Ukyo.

"When was the last time your mother was home?" Akemi asked.

"Gosh it's been a while since they first adopted Kimi," said Ukyo. "The day my mom and stepfather picked her up they both got called in suddenly to work and they had to leave her with us earlier than they were expecting."

"Really that long? Has Kimi been able to spend any time with her parents?" asked Akemi.

"No, not like they were hoping. But they're going to give her lots of their time and attention when they come back," said Ukyo.

"When is that?" Akemi asked.

"I don't know and neither do they I'm afraid," said Ukyo.

"Oh," said Akemi, "I just hope that Kimi's not feeling neglected over the idea of her parents leaving her so soon and not knowing when they're returning."

"Oh she's doing fine. She has so many big brothers and a big sister to dote on her. We're all very fond of her," said Ukyo.

"I know but, no offence or anything, it doesn't look good with your parents to adopt a child and suddenly just leave her. There are some who would think Kimi shouldn't stay with you," said Akemi sounding nervous of the idea.

"You don't think that do you?" Ukyo asked.

"No of course not. If anyone were to suggest it I'd stand by your side. I'm just saying you may want to contact your parents and try to see if they are coming home soon because of people like that," said Akemi.

"I wish it was that easy," said Ukyo.

"I'm sorry, maybe I'm making a big deal about nothing. Look, here's the exhibit I was talking about." All around were different version of old fashion inside homes from either Japan or other countries.

"Wow, could you imagine living in a house like this with a kitchen like this?" Ukyo asked looking around at one of showcases.

"Hmm if I had the right person with me living there I'm sure I could manage," said Akemi, "What about you?"

"Probably the same," said Ukyo smiling at the woman. She actually returned the smile.

"Do you think you'll ever find a woman like that?" she asked.

"I hope so," said Ukyo, "What about you?"

"I hope so too," said Akemi blushing as she said that and turning away. Ukyo raised his eyebrow feeling eager. Could Kimi's teacher be dropping a hint or was it just him wishfully thinking?


	36. Chapter 36

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

"And done!" Kimi exclaimed as she finished drawing her picture. She held it up to Natsume, "What do you think?"

Natsume took it and looked it over throughly. "It's very good Kimi. Do you like how it turned out?"

"I thought it was pretty," said Kimi.

"Good," said Natsume patting her head, "Let's take this over to Mr. Hogo's computer so he can animate it." Both brother and sister walked over to Hogo's computer. Wataru and Masaomi were still there watching Wataru's drawing.

"That's very nice Wataru," said Masaomi.

"I know, I'm great!" said Wataru.

"Let me see!" Kimi insisted as she moved to the computer. Mr. Hogo hit replay and let Wataru's character start moving again with the animation.

"Isn't it great Little Sister?" Wataru asked.

"Yeah it's really good," said Kimi.

"Did you have a drawing?" Mr. Hogo asked.

"Oh yes here," said Kimi holding up her drawing.

Mr. Hogo took it and raised an eyebrow as he examined it. "This is good, reall good."

"You think so?" asked Kimi.

"Oh yes, I know real talent when I see it," said Mr. Hogo.

"I told you," said Natsume.

"However, it may take me some time to get this animated since there's so many characters," said Mr. Hogo.

"Is that bad?" asked Kimi.

"No just letting you know," said Mr. Hogo, "Maybe one of your brothers can take you to look around for a little bit while I work on this okay?"

"That sounds like a good idea," said Natsume, "I can show you some more art that others with your kind of talent have done, huh Kimi?"

"Okay," said Kimi.

"Come back in like ten minutes or so," Mr. Hogo called out as the four siblings. As they started to leave the children's area they were surprised to bump into another family coming in. It was Kimi's friend Mura along with her parents.

"Hi Kimi!" Mura shouted.

"Hi Mura!" Kimi replied just as excited.

"Nice to see you again," said Masaomi.

"Yes you too," said Mura's father, "Are you leaving already?"

"Oh no, since Kimi's animation is going to take longer than usual we're taking her and Wataru to go look at some of the art pieces they have on display," Masaomi explained.

"Oh sure," said Mura's father moving out of the way for them.

"We'll be back soon," said Masaomi as he led the kids out, "Have fun, this whole thing is really exciting."

"Sure," said Mura's father. He watched the four start to walk off.

"Are those the people you were talking about?" his wife asked as they led their daughter to a coloring table.

"Yeah," said Mura's father, "I don't mean to judge but I can't help but think a girl Kimi's age, especially one that's been adopted, should be with a family where the parents are around more."

"Well I'm sure that orphanage wouldn't have let the family take her if they didn't think they'd offer a good home for her," said Mura's mother. Neither one noticed Mr. Ichigi, Aiji's father, looking over at them.

"I supposed you're right," said Mura's father, "I'm trying not to make a big deal about it. I guess I'm not use to such a thing."

"Maybe you should feel reason for concern," Mr. Ichigi spoke up suddenly walking over to them, "My son goes to the same school as your daughter and that other girl you're talking about. I think it's a bit weird that the parents would simply adopt a child and then just dump her off with their other kids. That can't be good for her."

"You think so too?" Mura's father asked.

"Very much so. Maybe we should look into having a social worker look in on the girl and her living conditions," Mr. Ichigi insisted.

"Ichigi, shut-up, you don't know what you're talking about," Mr. Hogo spoke up from his computer.

"Oh don't I? I'm a father and I know that there's some environments that are good for kids and there's some that aren't," Ichigi insisted.

"Yes but my sister's also the girl's teacher and if she thought there was something wrong with the way the girl's living she would have done something by now about it," said Mr. Hogo, "Plus you know Natsumi. He and his family has always been good people. Even if I don't like how cozy his older two brothers are getting with my sister, I don't think they'd treat that little girl any different than if she was in house with both parents present."

"He's right," said Mura's mother, "It doens't look like the little girl is doing bad. We shouldn't push it. Just let it be okay?" She turned her attention back to her own daughter. "So Mura what would you like to color?"

Mr. Ichigi however moved over to Mura's father and started to whisper into his ear. "I still think we should do something about this girl. We should at least have someone look into her home living."

"Well maybe, I'll have to think about it," said Mura's father, "I mean I don't want to stir up trouble."

"Okay but just remember the more we avoid this the more likely there could be trouble for that little girl," Ichigi insisted as he moved back to his computer. Mr. Hogo looked over at him with a glare, not liking what he saw and heard going down. He figured he'd bring it up to Natusmi and his brother when they came back to the children's room.

* * *

Wataru ran up ahead of his brothers and sister as they came to some of the art works on display.

"Look-Look!" he called out pointing to one of the pictures, "I remember playing that game!"

"Oh yes, that's a nice game," said Natsume as he looked at it.

"Oh and I've seen this one too!" Wataru insisted running to another.

"Wataru don't run off too far ahead," said Masaomi.

"Look it's a princess!" Kimi said pointing to a picture on the wall.

"Hmm this is from a real old game, like from when our parents were kids," said Masaomi looking at the info of the picture.

"Wow, that must have so long ago!" said Wataru.

"They're not that old Wataru," said Natsume.

"Are there any with elephants?" Kimi asked, "Or maybe a giraffe?"

"I think there were some from various games," said Natsumie, "Let's try going this way."

"I'm telling you I voiced him!" they suddenly heard Tsubaki say. They could all see him, Azusa and Ema rounding a corner and coming into view.

"Tsubaki, according to the caption, the game came out when you were still in high school," said Ema.

"Quit trying to take credit where it's not due," said Azusa.

"Oh come on," said Tsubaki right as he noticed Kimi and the others. "Kimi!" he whined hurrying over to her and picking her up, "Can you believe that Azusa and Ema are calling me a liar?"

"Are you?" Kimi asked.

"No!" Tsubaki insisted.

"Yes," Azusa said quickly after.

"Hmm, everyone's against me. Well everyone except you, right Kimi?" Tsubaki said looking at his sister.

"You're a good boy but, you shouldn't lie," said Kimi. Ema had to hide her mouth behind her mouth as she started to laugh.

"You're right Kimi, Tsubaki is a good person but he shouldn't lie," said Azusa.

"I'll do my best not to okay Kimi?" Tsubaki promised. Kimi nodded and kissed Tsubaki's cheek.

"Sometimes I think Kimi's too good to be Tsubaki's sister," said Natsume.

"What, are you crazy?" Tsubaki asked.

"How was the children's exhibit going?" Azusa asked.

"It's going good. It's just going to take a while for Kimi's drawing to get animated, so were taking a quick break to look at the art they have up," said Masaomi.

"Oh I can't wait to see Kimi's drawing animated," said Tsubaki.

"I bet it looks great," said Ema.

"Mine looked great too!" Wataru insisted.

"I'm sure they can see it when we go back to look at Kimi's," said Natsume.

"Hey by the way where's Ukyo? I bet he'd like to see it too," said Masaomi.

"Oh, he went off for some alone time with Kimi's cute teacher," said Tsubaki in a dream like voice.

"He what?" Masaomi said in a loud voice. His tone surprised all his siblings.

"Masa are you okay?" asked Ema.

"Oh yes I'm fine. I was just surprised Ukyo would want to go off on his own. Where did they go?" Masaomi insisted on knowing.

"Uh to this house hold exhibit the musuem's also hosting," said Ema timidly.

"Where's that at?" asked Masaomi.

"I think it's towards the back of the museum," said Natsume.

"Excuse me," said Masaomi as he hurried off.

"Where's Masa going?" asked Kimi.

"Hmm should we go find out?" Tsubaki asked as he started to follow Masaomi along. The other siblings also followed.

* * *

"Wow, would you look at this?" Akemi Hogo said looking at a fake adobe oven. She fiddled with some of the controls to see the fake flames come up around the fake bread. "Could you ever imagine getting to cook with an over like this?" She asked Ukyo.

"I would love a chance to try it," said Ukyo standing next to her looking at the oven as well.

"This whole exhibit itself is amazing I think," said Akemi as the two moved onward to a different kitchen, "I wonder if my students would enjoy such a thing."

"Well they'd have fun with the kinds of things you can mess around with," said Ukyo, "Although I think they would prefre going to the zoo instead."

"Yeah you're right. This might be a nicer place to maybe take older kids. Not only could they have fun but they might actually learn from it," said Akemi.

"Do you like working with the little kids?" asked Ukyo.

"Oh I love working with little kids. I love my job," Akemi insisted.

"I like my job too, even when it gets highy demanding. Both my job as a lawyer or as my role in my family," said Ukyo.

"What kind of rold is that?" asked Akemi.

Ukyo blushed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm kind of the mother figure I guess you could say. I usually do a lot of the cooking and cleaning and things like that." He heard Akemi giggle.

"I kind of got that vibe from you, no offence or anything. I think it's sweet that you're willing to help out in that way," she said.

"Oh, well thank you," said Ukyo. However his face dropped when he saw Masamoi hurrying into the exhibit. He felt like a deer in headlights. He kept wondering if he should try and move Akemi away where she or Masaomi couldn't notice each other. However before he could make up his mind he saw his other brothers and sisters walking into the exhibit as well.

"Oh wow this look like fun!" Wataru shouted looking around, "I wonder what that does over there!" He ran over to one of the interactive kitchens.

"Wataru, don't rush off and cause trouble!" Natsume called out.

"Is that your brothers and sisters?" Akemi asked turning to the sound of Wataru and Natsume's voices.

"Uh yes looks like," Ukyo said trying to hide the dissapointment in his voice.

"Look there's Ukyo and Miss Hogo," Kimi said pointing, still in Tsubaki's arms.

"Oh would you look at that?" said Tsubaki with a smirk.

As Masaomi looked at his brother with Kimi's teacher, he tried not to show his anger at seeing the two of them together.

"Hello everyone," said Miss Hogo as she walked over to the family, "Hi Kimi are you having a good time?"

"Yeah, your brother is bringing my drawing to life right now. It's just going to take a while before it's ready," said Kimi.

"Actually it should be ready by now if you want to go back and check," said Natsume.

"Oh I can't wait to see it!" said Tsubaki.

"Plus we can see Wataru's too right?" said Ema as the family, along with Miss Hogo, headed back to the children's area.

"So Ukyo," said Masaomi as the two brothers all walked back. The two were lingering back behind the group, "Did you have fun with Miss Hogo?"

"Yes as a matter of fact. We were having a really nice time before you showed up," Ukyo said. He made sure to put a lot of efficient on the word you.

"When you say you, you're not referring to us as group are you?" Masamoi asked.

Ukyo was quiet for a moment before he admitted, "No."

"I see," was all Masaomi would reply as the two brothers kept walking onward. Each could feel the tension coming from his brother but at the same time, they could also feel the guilt coming from each other as well.


	37. Chapter 37

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"Oh wow this place sure is lively," Tsubaki said as the family walked into the children's room with all the children running around fast having fun.

"It looks like they're having fun," said Ema giggling. "So where's Kimi and Wataru's drawings? I want to see them in action."

"Let's go over here," Natsume led them over to the computer Mr. Hogo was working at.

"Hi Chomi," Akemi Hogo spoke up as she came to her brother's side, "How's it going?"

"It's going good," Chomi said without looking up from his computer, "What have you been up to?"

"Well after I got to look at some of the art work I went and looked at the household exhibit with Mr. Asahina," Akemi said calmly.

At that her brother stopped working and looked up at her with anger in his eyes. "What?!" he shouted as he stood up in his full form. He turned and looked at the Asahina family who had assembled behind him, "Which one was it?!" he demanded to know.

"Calm down," Akemi said slapping her brother's arm, "Nothing happened. We just looked around! So do you have their sister's drawing done?" Chomi didn't move. Instead he kept looking towards the Asahina family with a scornful look.

"Hogo, please, I'm sure my little sister wants to see how you animated her drawing. Plus my other brothers and other sister want to see my youngest brother's work," Natsume spoke up as he pointed to the computer.

"Fine, but don't think I'm going to let this go!" Hogo said moving back to his computer. "Here, why don't I show everyone your brother's work first." He hit play and immediately Wataru's animation came up.

"Oh Wataru that's so cute!" Ema praised.

"I know, aren't I great?" Wataru asked, "Now let's see Little Sister's! Her's is even better!"

"Oh yes of course," said Chomi as he started up his computer. All too soon Kimi's images came up on the screen in a different scene from Wataru's. Each character looked amazing in their own way.

"Hey I see me in there!" Tsubaki said pointing to one of the characters.

"We're all in there," Natsume mentioned, "If you look closely."

"Oh wow, nice work Kimi," Azusa praised patting his sister on the head, "You also did a good job on you and Ema."

"Oh, I like my dress," said Ema.

"You two sure are the most beautiful characters I've ever seen!" said Tsubaki.

"Can I see?" a small voice asked behind the group. Everyone turned around to see Kimi's friend Mura standing behind them holding her own picture.

"Oh sure come on over," Masaomi said moving his brothers out of the way to let Mura closer for her to see. Chomi started to hit play again.

"Oh wow, Kimi your drawing's so nice! Are those all your brothers?" Mura asked.

"Yeah!" said Kimi.

"I wish I had a brother!" Mura said.

"I know you feel," Ema said patting the small girl's head, "I felt the same way when I was little."

"I'd like a sister too," Mura insisted. Ema giggled even louder.

"You and I have a lot in common," she said, "do you have a drawing ready?"

"Right here," Mura said holding up her drawing of a penguin, "It's not as good as Kimi's though."

"That's okay I'm sure it'll look cute Mura," her teacher insisted, "I like to think my brother knows what he's doing."

"Sure do," said Chomi as he took the drawing to animate it.

"Thank you for all your hard work today," Natsume said as he leaned in closer to Chomi as he worked at the computer.

"It's no big deal. I do like children," said Chomi. He cast a glance over to Ichigi as he said that. "He uh Asahina, I think you should know something. I overheard Ichigi talking with your sister's friend's parents about your youngest sister. He was trying to convince him that maybe your sister isn't so well off living with all your brothers the way she is, and they should get a social worker to look into it."

"Oh he did, did he?" Natsume said looking over at Ichigi as well. "I know I've been meaning to talk to him about that woman you mentioned." He slowly walked over to Ichigi's computer.

Ichigi looked up as Natsume as came up to him. "Hi, how's it going?" he asked.

"It's going good," said Natsume, "having a good time?"

"Oh yes, me and my son," said Ichigi.

"I see," said Natsume, "Hey uh Ichigi, can I ask you a question about something?"

"About what?" Ichigi asked sounding defensive.

"It's nothing bad. I was just wanting to ask you about your old job," Natsume insisted, "Did you know anyone that had hair similar to my sister's? Hogo mentioned you may have know someone like that back at your old office. She may have been half German...,"

At that Ichigi suddenly jumped up. "That Little Slut! Just What The Hell Do You Think You Are Implying Asahina?! She Was The One That Was Always Making Advances on The Men In The Office! She Didn't Care Who's Life She Might Ruin! Hell She Was Even Willing To Take Advantage Of A Man Simply Because He Was Stressed Over Having a New Kid! She Didn't Care What Would Happened If His Wife Found Out Or If She Got Pregnant! She'd Just Blame It On Him Making Her The Victim In All Of This!" He started panting heavily over what he had just said, before he looked around and noticed everyone had stopped what they were doing and were looking towards him and Natsume.

Kimi subconsciously wrapped her arms around Tsubaki's neck, upset. Tsubaki gently patted her back.

"It's okay Kimi," he said in a gentle tone.

"That man is scary," Kimi whispered to him.

At that Natsume grabbed Ichigi'right? s by his collar and started to pull him out of the children's room.

"Daddy, where are you going?" Aiji asked as he watched his father being led out.

"It's okay Aiji, I'm just going to talk to your dad outside and let him calm down," Natsume assured the boy as the two men walked out. The minute the two men were outside, Natsue slammed his co-worker into the wall. "What the hell was that all about?! You have any idea how much you scared the children in there?!"

"I'm sorry I couldn't help it," Ichigi insisted, "It's just talking about that girl makes me so mad!"

"So you do know whom I'm talking about?" Natsume asked.

"Of course I know about her, the little slut!" Ichigi insisted, "God, she should just stay in Germany! That's where she belongs!"

"Okay, okay calm down," Natsume said, "I was just asking about her because Hogo mentioned he knew her too and that her hair was similar to my sister Kimi's. I was just curious about her because no one knows anything about Kimi's real parents."

"They don't?" Ichigi asked. He sounded relived over hearing that.

"No, and while I know it's no big deal, especially now, I couldn't help but think that Kimi might want to know about her real parents some day," said Natsume, "That's all."

"Right of course," said Ichigi, "About that, are you sure Kimi's well off with your family?"

"So you were talking about that? Hogo mentioned you were stirring up problems about that," Natsume said.

"I'm just thinking what's best for the kid. She needs a reliable mother and a father, not one that just dumps her as soon as they get her," Ichigi.

"My parents did not simply dumb her on my other brothers and sister the minute they got her. They were called back into the work unexpectedly. And even if they did, my mother and stepfather are reliable! My mother has always been there for me and my brothers and she still is now! She has taken good care of us and raised all of us just fine in my opinion! The same could be said for my stepfather with the way he's raised my stepsister. She's a very fine young woman!"

"Yeah, she is pretty fine," Ichigi muttered scratching his chin.

"What was that?" Natsume asked.

"Oh nothing, but you know I can''t help but think that maybe, possibly, your sister should be in a home where the parents are there full time. Better yet, maybe she should be in a place where she can get a better future, some place like America," Ichigi continued to insist.

"America, really? Look just because your son is having troubles with her and my brother, it doesn't mean you should try getting rid of her. So please drop this?" Natsume insisted.

"Hmm," was all Ichigi would reply, "Anything else?"

"Yes, about that girl again," Natsume continued, "Do you know her name or...,"

"No!" Ichigi shouted loudly again. A few people walking past turned to look at the two men as they past. "I don't know her name, I don't know anything about her! I did my best to keep her away from me at all times, given her reputation! All I know for sure was that when I was putting in for that transfer to our company, I heard a rumor that she was going back to Germany because of some sort of scandal! That's it, end of story! Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do to help with this exhibit!" He brushed past Natsume in huff before Natsume could ask any more questions. Natsume stood alone for a moment, pondering over the conversation he just had with his co-worker.

* * *

"Chomi, were you serious when you were talking to Mr. Asahin about those two men wanting to investigate the Ashaina home over Kimi?" Akemi asked her big brother.

"Yeah, which is utter bull shit!" Chomi insisted, "I may not like the way the men hit on you, but I don't think they're doing anything wrong in helping to bring up that girl."

"Yeah, that's what I always felt too," said Akemi, "Well the part about them not doing anything wrong in bringing up Kimi. I don't mind the attention I'm getting from the brother, particularly one." She looked over at Asahina family with a smile. Her brother also looked over at them.

"Which one?" he deamnded to know, "Which one are you enjoying having hit on you?!"

"Like I would be dumb enough to tell you that!" Akemi said slapping her brother on the arm. "And besides, it doesn't really matter at this point. I think it would be best not to make head-waves over this until I feel that being with the brother I'm starting to like won't make trouble for him or his brothers."

"Nothing but trouble will happen with you being with any man!" muttered her brother.

"Shut-up!" Akemi snapped back. Just then everyone saw Ichigi walking back into the room and back over to his computer.

"Daddy," Aiji said as his father came back to his computer, "Daddy, is everything okay?"

"Yes of course son," Ichigi said pulling his son close. He looked back over at the Asahina family before whispering something into his son's ear.

"I wonder what happened out there," Ema said timidly when she noticed the man looking over at her family and whispering to his son.

"Who cares, don't give him any attention," Azusa said getting her to look away from the man and his son.

Just then Natsume also came back in.

"Everything alright?" Masaomi asked.

"Where's Kimi and Wataru?" Natsume asked.

"Over there, with Kimi's friend, why?" Ukyo asked pointing to a coloring table where the children were once again coloring.

"You might want to watch out for that man over, Ichigi," Natsume said pointing over to the man "I think for some reason he's trying to get Kimi taken away."

"What, he wouldn't!" Tsubkai said getting mad. It looked like was going to go over and punch the man. Azusa however was quick to put his hand on his shoulder to keep him from doing such a thing.

"I don't understand, why is he so determined to get Kimi taken away from us?" Ema asked timidly.

"I don't know, but he won't," Natsume said. The other brothers all looked towards Kimi and Wataru, each nodding their head in full agreement.


	38. Chapter 38

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

"Kimi, Wataru, are you having a good time?" Ema asked, moving back over to her two youngest siblings, along with Mura.

"Yeah!" Wataru shouted with joy, "I'm so glad we got to come here today!"

"Me too!" said Kimi, "Want to see my new drawing?" She held up a beautiful bird flying in the sky.

"Oh Kimi, you must really like drawing huh?" Ema said looking at the drawing.

"Look at mine!" Wataru said holding it up. It was a two kids dressed as jungle people, in leopard suites, swinging through the trees. Although it didn't look as good as Kimi's, Ema had a hunch the two children were supposed to be him and Kimi.

"It's real cute Wataru," she said, "What about you, Mura? Did you have one ready?"

"I think so," Mura said, holding up one simple drawing of a horse, "It's the best I could do."

"Oh it's very nice," Ema praised, "Did you want to go get in animated?"

"Yeah!" shouted Wataru, Kimi and Mura. Ema giggled some more, and turned to lead the kids to the animation station, only to suddenly bump straight into Ichigi.

Ichigi immediately put both hands on Ema's arms. "Oh I'm so sorry, I should watch more where I'm going."

"It's okay," Ema tried to say. She looked down at the man's hands, place firmly on her arms. It made her feel a bit uncomfortable. It almost made her feel like the man wasn't going to let go of her anytime soon.

"So, are we going to get some of our drawings animated?" Ichigi asked in a friendly manner.

"Yes, that was the plan," said Ema.

"Why don't you come over to my computer then?" Ichigi suggested.

"No, that's okay. I think it's best if we went to Mr. Hogo's computer. He is the girls' teacher's brother after all," Ema said. She managed to brush the man's hands off of her, and lead the children pass him, over to Hogo's computer. As Kimi walked past, she went and glanced up at the man next to her. He gave her a glare that made Kimi feel even more afraid of him. She ran up close to Wataru, staying near his side to feel safer.

It was starting to get harder to have fun like she had been before, the way the man kept glaring at her. Plus Kimi was still feeling afraid of the idea that his son, Aiji, would try being mean to her again. She would notice him looking over at her every now and then, with that evil look in his eye.

* * *

"Masaomi?" Kimi finally asked after a while, walking up to her oldest brother, "Can we go home now?"

"Oh, are you not having anymore fun Kimi?" Masaomi asked patting her head. Kimi cast a glance over her shoulder, and Masaomi followed it to see Mr. Ichigi, and his son, at Ichigi's computer."Kimi, are they giving you a hard time?"

"I don't like that man. He keeps looking at me like he hates me. Why would he hate me?" Kimi asked.

"Don't worry about that man," Masaomi assured her. He stood up and took her into his arms, "If you'd like to go home we can. If you want, we can even stop off somewhere fun, and get something to eat, okay?"

"Can we go to some place that gives you a toy with the food?" Kimi asked.

"I'm sure we can find a place like that," said Masaomi, "Wataru, Ema." Both siblings looked over at him from Hogo's computer. "Come on, time to go."

"Oh, already?" Wataru whined.

"If we leave now, we can stop off somewhere and get a happy meal," Masaomi promised.

"Yay, Happy Meal! Happy Meal!" Wataru started to shout with joy, obviously starting to perk up. Ema started to crack up at that.

"Oh, do you know where the others went off to?" Masaomi asked looking around for his other brothers.

"I think Tsubaki said something about going to the gift shop, and Azusa probably went with him," Ema said, "Natsume went out on his own a little while ago, something to do with business. And Ukyo, I don't know where Ukyo went, now that I think of it."

"Oh," said Masaomi, also looking around. As he scanned the room, he also noticed that Akemi Hogo wasn't in the room anymore either. "Uh Kimi, do you know where your teacher went to?"

"No," said Kimi, looking around the room as well.

Suddenly everyone heard a loud bang. Chomie Hodo stood up from his computer mad. "My sister, went to the bathroom a while ago, and I would thank you to just leave it at that!" he snarled.

"Right, of course," said Masaomi, "Well, let's just head to the gift shop to meet up with Azusa and Tsubaki. We can shoot a text to Ukyo and Natsume to meet us there."

"Sure," said Ema, taking Wataru's hand.

"Bye Kimi, see you at school tomorrow," Mura called out as Kimi and her family headed out.

"Bye Mura," Kimi called back.

Mura turned and looked back at her mother. "Mommy, I can go over to Kimi's house again? I like getting to see her brothers. They're all so nice," she asked eagerly.

"Well I supposed we can work something out," said her mother, "What do you think dear?"

"Huh, oh, well I don't see why not," said Mura's father not really paying attention.

"Are you sure you want your daughter hanging around a girl like that?" he suddenly heard Ichigi ask again standing next to him.

"Are you still going on about that?" Mura's father asked.

"The more I think about it, the more I can't help but think that little girl shouldn't be left with such a family," Ichigi insisted.

From his computer, Chomie Hogo could hear his co-worker going off again. He shook his head in annoyance, before getting up and going to look for Natsume. He was just about leave the children's room, when Natsume came back in.

"Asahina, here you are," Chomie said with relief, "He's at it again." He pointed behind him, where Ichigi was still talking with Mura's father. Natsume glared hard at the man.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with him again," he said, "But, I should go let my brothers know he's still going off. Do you know where they went?"

"I think I heard something about meeting two of your brothers at the gift shop, and apparently they didn't know where one brother was, like the second one or something like that," said Chomie.

"Thanks, I'll go catch up with them," said Natsume.

"Oh and if you see that missing brother near my sister, let him know he'll have hell to pay if he tries to get closer to her!" Chomie warned as Natsume left.

"Yes, thank you Hogo," said Natsume said. Although he did wonder where Ukyo, out of all people, would have wondered off to. He wasn't one to just walk off without telling anyone.

* * *

"Here you go sir," said a clerk at the museum café, handing Ukyo a special coffee.

"Thank you," Ukyo said, "I had smelled this on my way to the household exhibit, and couldn't forget how nice it smelled."

He looked around the cafe towards the bathrooms. He knew it was kind of shady of him, but when he noticed Akemi Hogo was heading there, he thought he'd try being sneaky and wait in the café for her, in the off chance he could make it look like they were had a casual run in. He shook his head over his stupidity. Not too long ago , he would never try doing something like this, especially over a woman. What was it about Kimi's teacher that mad him want to do things like this? Just then he noticed Miss Hogo coming out of the bathroom. He quickly made his way out of the café.

"Oh, Miss Hogo, fancy running into you here," he said, as casually as he could.

"Oh, well hello again Mr. Asahina," Miss Hogo said kindly. She took a whiff near his coffee cup, "Is that the thing we were smelling near the household exhibit?"

"Why yes it is," said Ukyo, "I couldn't forget it, so I thought I'd try and come get one. Would you like one? My treat."

"Oh no, I can't ask you to do that," said Akoni.

"Please, I insist," Ukoy said walking back to the café.

"Well, alright," Akani agreed, following Ukyo, and accepting the coffee from him. "Mmm, this is good! You always seem to find something interesting in a museum café, huh?"

"Yeah, they do like to bring in different items or flavors to make them seem more exotic," said Ukyo as they walked around together. "So, were you hoping to go back to the children's room, or were you gong to look around some more?"

"Well, it might be nice to take a quick peak at some of the other things they have on display," said Akemi, "Would you like to come with me?"

"You, want me, to go with you?" Ukyo asked, trying to continue his excitement that she had ask him such a question.

"Sure, it might be nice to have some company. Just don't let my brother find out," Akemi said, as she started to walk off. Ukyo beemed, and was about to follow her, when suddenly he heard his phone going off. He looked at it, and realized it was a text from Masaomi, asking him to meet everyone at the gift shop.

'Oh, you got to be kidding me!' Ukyo thought bitterly.

"Everything okay?" Akemi asked.

"Oh yes," Ukyo tried to assure her, "It just looks like my family's ready to do. So, I guess I'll have have to take a rain-check on that walk around, sorry about that."

"Oh no, that's okay. We can try again some other time," said Akemi, as kindly as she could.

"Thank you, I'll hopefully see you tomorrow when I bring Kimi and Wataru to school," said Ukyo, as he bowed his head, and walked off.

"Bye now," said Akemi, waving to Ukyo as he started to walk off. Ukyo could feel the back of his neck turning red as he waved back, and hurried off.

* * *

"Tsubaki, Azusa, are you here?" Wataru called out as he, Ema, and Masaomi, still holding Kimi, came into the gift shop.

"Yo!" they heard Tsubaki call back, as he walked up, his arms filled with a bunch of candy and toys. "I think I got enough to spoil Kimi and Wataru. What do you think?"

"Isn't that all a bit much?" Ema asked.

"Believe it or not, there's a lot more he put back," Azusa said, walking over up behind his twin.

"Hmm, you're right. Maybe I should go get some more for the kids," said Tsubaki.

"No, I think not Tsubaki. We're getting ready to go, actually," Masaomi said.

"Oh, I guess it is getting kind of late," said Azusa.

"Well, I'll just go buy all of this then," Tsubaki said, moving to the check out stand.

"We just have to wait for Natsume and Ukyo," said Masaomi, "Wherever he is."

"Ukyo went off by himself?"Azusa asked, "That doesn't sound like him." Masaomi just shrugged his shoulders.

Just then Natsume came into the gift shop."Good, you're still here," he said sounding relieved.

"What's wrong?" Azusa asked.

"He was at it again, Ichigi was trying to get Kimi's friend's parents on his side to have Kimi taken away," said Natsume.

"Was he really?" Masaomi said annoyed, "Boy, he doesn't give up easily does he? I'm going to have to call Mom when we get home, I think."

"Look, there's Ukyo!" Kimi suddenly called out, pointing over Masaomi's shoulder. All the other siblings turned, and saw Ukyo walking into the gift shop.

Ukyo could see his brothers and sisters had spotted him. He quickly did his best to look happy, so they didn't realize he was upset over not being able to walk around some more with Akemi Hogo. "Hi, are we ready to go?" he asked.

"Oh yes, after Tsubaki's done at the check-out counter," said Masaomi.

"Oh well, hopefully that won't take too long," Ukyo said.

"Ukyo, are you sad?" Kimi suddenly asked.

"What makes you think I'm sad?" Ukyo asked, sounding a bit shocked at Kimi's question.

"You looked sad when you first came in here," Kimi said.

"I looked what?" Ukyo asked.

"You looked sad," said Kimi again.

"Well don't worry Kimi, I'm fine. I'm not sad," Ukyo said patting her head.

"Alright, who wants to get first dibs on their new presents?" Tsubaki suddenly asked, as he joined up with his family.

"Oh I do, I do!" Both Kimi and Wataru shouted. Masaomi let Kimi down and the two small children ran over to Tsubaki, who helped dig out some of the things he had bought for the kids.

"Well, let's get going," said Azusa. The family all started to head out, with Kimi and Wataru walking next to Tsubaki. Masaomi and Ukyo strayed towards the back.

"Ukyo, are you sure you're alright?" Masaomi asked as they walked out of the museum.

"Well, if you must know, Miss Hogo had asked me to walk around with her some more, before you called," Ukyo admitted.

Masaomi stopped in his tracks. "She asked you?" he repeated.

"Yes and I was really looking forward to it," said Ukyo.

"Were you?" Masaomi asked.

"Very much so," said Ukyo, "I'm actually starting to think she likes me."

"What?" Masaomi asked, sounding bitter.

"I think, she likes me," Ukyo repeated, as if in a taunt.

"I see," said Masaomi, "Well, forgive me for what I'm about to do!"

"What?" Ukyo asked, right before he felt Masaomi punch him across the face.


	39. Chapter 39

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY, SHAPE, OR FORM

Ukyo rubbed his face in shock where his brother just punched him. It was still stinging from the blow. He looked towards Masaomi in pure shock. "Masaomi, what are you...?"

Masaomi took a few deep breaths, before he spoke. "I'm sorry Ukyo, I really am. But, in case you haven't noticed, I too like Miss Hogo. I haven't had a real chance to pursue anyone romantically, mostly due to my position as the oldest brother of this family! It's a burden I've up until now, have had no problem having. But now, now that I think I found someone who I could be happy with the way most adults are at my age, you have to get in the way!"

"I have to get in the way?" Ukyo repeated, "you want to talk about getting in the way of things? You think you're the only one who's had to give up on certain things for the better of the family? I've done my best in helping out with the family just as much as you! But I've always had to watch my step, and not get too much in your way, simply because you're the oldest! You always got to go first. You always get everything first! I've always been second to you, but not this time! Why should I have to step aside for you to be with Miss Hogo, simply because you're older than me? Especially when I like her, and I saw her first!" At that, Ukyo charged at Masaomi, and punched him across the face as well.

"What's going on back there?" Ema asked as she turned around to the sound of all the noise. She gasped when she saw Ukyo punch Masaomi.

Masaomi rubbed his face as well, before trying to punch Ukyo again.

"No, stop!" Ema shouted in desperation. At that, her other brothers and sister all turned around to see their oldest brothers fighting. Natsume and Azusa quickly ran to them, each trying to keep them away from each other.

"Stop this you two!" Natsume tried to order, "stop this right now!"

"This isn't like you two!" Azusa also shouted, "and even still, you shouldn't be doing this in public!"

"Then tell Masaomi, to just back off!" Ukyo shouted.

"Why do I have to back off!"Masaomi shouted back, "I'm older!"

"You were the one who started this in the first place!"Ukyo argued.

"Will both of you stop this?" Natsume asked, "You're acting so childish!"

Kimi clung tightly to Tsubaki's leg, scared. "Why are they fighting like this?" She asked.

"Well, sometimes brothers fight for, stupid reason," Tsubaki tried to explain, doing his best to hide the slight nervousness in his voice.

"Well, I want them to stop!" Kimi pleaded, "someone make them stop!" She let go of Tsubaki's leg and ran towards the fight.

"Kimi, stop!" Tsubaki called out.

Ema turned away from the fight in time to see Kimi running past her. " Kimi, no!" She too called out as she tried to stop her sister. However Kimi made it past her, heading towards the fight in progress.

"Will you two calm down before the police are called!" Azusa shouted at his brothers, as he and Natsume kept trying to keep them apart.

"I can't calm down!" Ukyo insisted, "not as long as he's acting like this!"

"Neither can I" Masaomi also declared, "at least that we can agree on!" He swung out his arm, preparing to strike Ukyo again. Just as he swung out his fist, he felt something else coming into contact with it, another human.

* * *

"Stop!" Kimi shouted as she ran towards her brothers. She wasn't sure if they heard her or not, since they looked like they were still fighting. She was suddenly cough that off guard when Masaomi swung out his fist, and hit her instead. The blow was so strong, it knocked her down.

"Kimi!" Ema shouted, as she ran over and gathered Kimi up in her arms. Kimi buried her face into her sister's shoulder, crying.

Masaomi, Ukyo, Azusa and Natsume, all stopped struggling at the sound of Ema's voice and Kimi crying. All four looked Kimi's way and saw her in Ema's arms, trying to comfort the poor little girl.

"Kimi?" Masaomi said in shock, "Did I...?" Before he, or the other three could move, Tsubaki was at Ema's side.

"Kimi, are you okay? I bet it doesn't look that bad right?" He tried to assure the little girl. At that Kimi raised her head to look at Tsubaki. Tsubaki actually looked shocked. "Well, I hope you two are happy with yourselves. You gave her a black eye!" He said, mad.

"I, what?" Masaomi sputtered. Kimi slowly turned around and the other three brothers could see not only the black eye, but also her chin was scared, and bleeding a little. "Oh my god, Kimi, I'm so sorry!"

"We didn't mean to get you hurt Kimi!"Ukyo also spoke up.

"There, that's them"

The family all looked towards the front of the museum to see a random person running out with a few security guards. "I saw at least one punch the other!" The guards quickly hurried over to the family. Behind them, a huge group was also filing out to see what was going on. Among them there also happened to be Mura and her parents, Ichigi and his son, and the two Hogo siblings. Akemi looked mortified.

"Is there a problem out here?" One of the guards asked, in a serious tone.

"I'm sorry officer, it's just a big misunderstanding!" Azusa tried to explain.

"Were these two fighting?" the guard asked.

There was a long, awkward pause.

"Yes,"Ukyo finally admitted, "my older brother and I got into a little spat."

"A little spat huh?" Said the guard, "Well, what happened to her then?" He pointed to Kimi in Ema's arms, her chin, and eye very visible. Akemi quickly hurried over to her, and pulled out a band-aid for Kimi's chin.

"It was my fault," Masaomi confessed, "she got caught up in the crossfire, and I accidentally hit her in the face."

Everyone watching gasped, including Akemi. Ichigi however, looked pleased.

"I see," said the guard, clearly mad. "Well, seeing as you two have stopped fighting, and I'm not the real police, I can't do anything to you two, at the moment. However, if I did have the authority, I'd have you two both spend the night in jail! Now, leave please!" He and the other guards all turned and headed back to the museum. "Alright everyone, nothing to see here. Back to what you were doing," they all said, as they ushered the spectators back into the museum. Mura's parents, Ichigi and Chomie Hogo all stayed where they were.

"Now do you believe me?" Ichigi asked Mura's father.

"Yes, you may be right after all," said the man.

Ukyo and Masaomi all looked at Akemi, still helping to treat Kimi's wounds.

"Miss Hogo," Ukyo started to say. Akemi quickly stood up.

"I hope whatever it was you gentlemen were fighting about was worth it. Because up until now, I didn't think it was bad having Kimi living with you. But you two fighting and getting her hurt sure has changed my point of view, in more ways than one!" At that she stormed back over to her brother and the two walked off together. Mura and her family also walked off. Ichigi smirked at the family for a moment.

"Let's hope the right lesson was learned here today," he said, in a taunting tone, "that maybe your so called little sister shouldn't have been left with you." He turned and led his son away.

The Asahina family all stayed where they were for a moment, as if frozen in place.

Finally Wataru spoke up. "Um, what should we do now?"

Masaomi took a deep breath. "Well I don't think I should go home right now. Ema, may I please have your permission to stay in your father's apartment for the time being, since he and our mother are still overseas?"

"Huh, Masaomi, are you sure that's necessary?" Ema asked.

"I just need some time apart, please," said Masaomi.

"Well then, I guess you can," said Ema.

"Thank you," said Masaomi softly.

Everyone heard a soft sigh suddenly come from Ukyo. "I was going to ask the same thing," he muttered.

"Would you like to stay with me?" Natsume offered.

"Would that be alright?" Ukyo asked.

"If you feel like you should, then yes you may," Natsume said.

"Thank you, I think I shall then. It's probably best I not be at the main house for a while," said Ukyo.

"Are you sure it's necessary for you two to both stay away?" Ema asked in alarm.

"For now, yes, " said Masaomi. Both he and Ukyo glared at each other. "I'll go with you back to the condo to get some things before I head over to the apartment."

"Ukyo, did you want to do the same thing?" Natsume asked.

"No I can go by later to get my stuff," said Ukyo.

"Should we just got then?" Natsume asked, leading his brother away.

"Sure," said Ukyo, walking off with him. He didn't even say good-bye to his other brothers and sisters as he left.

"Well, let's get going," Masaomi said, as he started to usher the others in the opposite direction.

"Masaomi, are you sure you're doing the right thing?" Ema kept asking.

"Yes, I do," said Masaomi softly, "Please just let it go for now."

* * *

The trip home was extremely quiet. Not even the little ones made a peep. When everyone return to the condo, Kaname and Subaru were relaxing in the living room

"Welcome home, "Kaname tried to say. Masaomi however rushed right past towards the stairs."Um did something happen?" Kaname asked.

"Well we may have seen a new side of Masaomi and Ukyo to the point both are leaving for a while," said Tsubaki.

"Leaving?" Kaname repeated in confusion, "You mean they're both not going ot be here for a while?"

"Apparently," said Azusa.

"Wow," Kaname said as he tried to take in what he just heard, "So this is going to complicate things for a while huh? And this means I'm suddenly the oldest here and in charge. I may be able ot enjoy this."

"Oh this jus got worse than we thought," said Azusa.

* * *

Masaomi headed to his room on his own and immediately threw some things together in his bag before heading out again. He didn't say good-bye to anyone as he walked out the door. He didn't seem to notice Kimi and Wataru watching him leave from the top of the stairs.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Kimi asked.

"I, I think so," said Wataru.

"What about Ukyo?" Kimi asked.

"I'm sure he'll be back to," Wataru said.

"I hope so," said Kimi. She gave off a sad sigh. "Do you think it's my fault Masaomi and Ukyo got into a fight?" She asked.

"Why would it be your fault?" Wataru asked.

"They wouldn't have gotten into a fight if I was here, right?" Kimi asked.

"Kimi," the two children suddenly heard Ema calling out. They turned around and saw her standing behind them. "Come with me Kimi," Ema said, motioning for Kimi to follow her.

"Why?" Kimi asked.

"Just come with me. We're going to have a little talk," Ema insisted, continuing to encourage Kimi to follow her. Kimi decided to trust her only sister and walked off with her. The two sisters came to Ema's room and sat on Ema's bed.

"Listen Kimi," Ema started to say, "don't think what's going on between Ukyo and Masaomi is your fault. I'm sure there was a lot more going on in making them fight. So don't think you're to blame for it. And even if it does involve you, you still shouldn't let it bother you. Our brothers are smart and will be able to figure it out on their own, okay? You're a little girl. You shouldn't worry about this okay?"

"But it still feels sad!" Said Kimi.

"I know, I'm sad too. But I'm sure it'll get better soon. In the meantime, I'm here for you okay?" Ema said, holding her sister close.

"Okay," said Kimi, returning the hug, "I love you Ema."

"I love you too Kimi, just like our brothers," Ema assured her sister. She hoped her words of encouragement helped make Kimi feel better.


	40. Chapter 40

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY, SHAPE, OR FORM

Masaomi was able to let himself in to his stepfather's apartment easily. Inside, everything was dark and quiet. It also had a slightly cold feeling to it. No doubt his parents had made sure to turn off the heat and power off before they left for California. However, he didn't bother turning either one on as he venture into the apartment.

He went and sat down in a random chair and stared off into the abyss. He had never really been this alone before. He usually knew there was at least one of his brothers near by. He had always been used to having people around him, usually family. Now, however, now he was alone. Why had he allowed himself to lose control like that to the point he had not only punched Ukyo, but Kimi as well. He was the oldest brother, the responsible one. Fine job he had done today.

What was he going to do know? Would he ever feel alright going home again, or facing Akemi Hogo again? It felt like only time would be able to tell at this point.

* * *

Ukyo and Natsume didn't speak as they headed to Natsume's home. However, it didn't stop Natsume from glancing over to his brother every now and then, trying to see if he could figure out what his brother was thinking or feeling.

When the two arrived at Natsume's apartment, they were greeted by Natsume's two cats."Hey you guys," Natsume said, rubbing each cats' head. "We have company."

"Hello Azusa, Tsubaki, " Ukyo said plainly, simply patting one cat's head before walking into the apartment. He took a seat in the middle of the room, just staring out the balcony window.

Natsume leaned up against the wall, observing his brother as he just stared off into nothing. "Can I get you anything?" He finally tried to offer.

"No thanks, I'm fine," Ukyo replied, not turning away from the window. "Thank you Natsume, for letting me stay here."

"Sure, no problem," Natsume assured his brother, as he moved over to the couch, still trying to observe his brother. "Are you okay?" He finally asked.

"No, no I'm not," Ukyo admitted. "I've never lost my temper like that before, and I've never seen Masaomi lose his temper like that either. I can't believe he'd get so mad at me to the point he'd try to beat me up. And I sure didn't help by fighting back like that. Plus Kimi got hurt because of it, and Miss Hogo had to see Masaomi and me at our worst. I wouldn't be surprised if she never wanted to see either one of us in a positive light again."

"Well, we've all done stupid things, even with our brothers and or over a woman," Natsume tried to offer up as a form of comfort to his brother. "You and Masaomi have always been close and I've seen you two deal with a lot more difficult situations in the past. Mostly that was because you two were the oldest and didn't have much of a choice. I always looked up to you two though, and I think you two will be able to work this out. "

Ukyo gave off a sigh. "Thank you Natsume, I hope you're right," he replied.

* * *

Kim stood behind Ema as she looked in the fridge.

"Hmm," she heard Ema hum softly, "I don't know what we should have for dinner." She turned to look at Kimi. "Kimi, what do you want?" She asked.

Kimi shrugged her shoulders. " I don't know," she said.

"Well," Ema said looking back into the fridge. She kind of wished Ukyo was here. He'd probably have an idea of what to make.

"Oh, hello Chi and Little Chi," Louis said suddenly coming into the kitchen, "What are you up to?"

"Trying to find something for dinner," said Kimi.

"Oh, I guess that's kind of hard to figure out without Ukyo here huh?" Louis asked calmly. "Why don't we just order out? It might be kind of fun."

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt," said Ema, "What should we order?"

"What do you think Little Chi?" Louis asked. Kimi again shrugged her shoulders. She seemed to have a sad look on her face. "Something bothering you Little Chi?"

Ema slowly moved over to Louis and whispered into his ear, "Kimi's feeling a little bit responsible for the fight Ukyo and Masaomi got into in front of the museum."

"Oh, so that's what happened," Louis whispered back, "I heard they had both left the condo but I didn't know why. Why don't you go see if you can ask any of the other brothers what they'd like to order. I'm going to try to talk with Little Chi."

"Sure," said Ema as she headed out of the room, leaving Louis and Kimi alone.

"Hey Little Chi, are you feeling okay?" Louis asked, moving over to his little sister.

"Big Sister told me that Masaomi and Ukyo didn't get a fight because of me, but they wouldn't have fought if I wasn't here, would they?" Kimi asked

Louis smiled and patted Kimi's head. "Little Chi, brothers fight, sometimes over the most silliest things. It can be triggered by anything, at anytime. They could start fighting over something like a toy, the last piece of cake, you name it. But remember what I told you that day you got upset over something Wataru said to you? If Masaomi and Ukyo both are truly sorry, which I think they are, they will make up again."

Kimi nodded and hugged her brother. Louis hugged her back in a comforting manner. "Try not to worry about it too much for now Little Chi. But if it does keep bothering you, know you can always come to me okay?"

"Thanks Louis," Kimi said.

* * *

"Mmm-mmm," Tsubaki moaned with delight as the family enjoyed their take-out food, "it may not be as good as our wonderful sister's cooking, but it's still good."

"I'm sorry," Ema apologized, "I'll make sure to go shopping tomorrow after we pick up Wataru and Kimi from school."

"Oh no, it's fine. It's like I said, it was still good," Tsubaki assured her.

"However, it does bring up a problem we have to deal with," Azusa spoke up, " Who's going to take Kimi and Wataru to school tomorrow?"

"I'll do it," Louis offered up.

"You?" Azusa asked, "are you sure you can get up in time?"

"I'll make sure to get up to do it, I swear," Louis insisted with a smile.

"Alright then," said Azusa, " We'll still have to figure out who's going to take the two to school until either Masaomi or Ukyo come home. Hopefully both will come home soon."

"Yeah," said both Wataru and Kimi.

"Hey, come on now, don't get upset again. We still have lots to be happy about right?" Tsubaki said, "Did you forget those cool treats and toys I got you today? As soon as you two finish dinner, how about we try enjoying some of the treats?"

"Yeah!" Wataru shouted with joy.

"Finish your food first," Azusa said.

"Oh, alright," Wataru moaned. He took some more food and shoved them into his mouth.

* * *

That night Kimi had a hard time sleeping as she held Beenjee close to her. She remembered what Louis and Ema had both told her. It wasn't her fault that Masaomi and Ukyo had gotten into the fight, but why did it still feel like it was? And also why did both her brothers feel the need to leave afterwards? She wasn't mad she got hurt in their fight. She hoped they would come home soon. As Kimi drifted off to sleep, she wondered if Masaomi and Ukyo were sleeping well wherever they were.

* * *

When Masaomi woke up the nest morning, he was a little startled that he didn't hear any kind of movement or voices coming from outside the room he was sleeping in. He looked around and realized he was once again surrounded in darkness, remembering that he hadn't bothered turning back on the power or the hear last night before going to bed. For some reason, he had felt he'd rather sleep in the darkness and cold.

As Masaomi got up and started to get up, he also realized there wasn't any food in the house. It made him wish Ukyo was here. It wasn't like he needed someone to cook for him, but it was something to look forward to in the morning. Knowing there he had someone who cared enough to make sure he and his family had something to eat when they woke up.

It also got Masaomi to wonder what was happening at the condo, if everyone was getting up for work or school. Especially Wataru and Kimi. He looked towards his phone and though about possibly calling the condo, just to see how everyone was doing. Then, he started to remember the day before, how his stupid actions and anger got him the better of him to the point that he had unintentionally struck his littlest sister. He remember seeing her face in the after mass, the black eye, the busted chin and the tears, tears of both fear and pain that he had cause.

A sense of guilt and remorse filled Masaomi so much he didn't eve reach for the phone. Today, his brothers and sisters were going to have to handle themselves.

* * *

Natsume woke up to the sound of something rummaging through his kitchen. He looked over and saw Ukyo hard at work preparing something. "Kyo, what are you doing?" he asked half asleep.

"Sorry, I'm so use to making breakfast for everyone back at the condo, I couldn't help it," Ukyo said as he kept cooking.

"No, it's fine, thank you," Natsume said as he got up from his bed, "How did you sleep?"

"Alright I guess," Ukyo said, not looking towards his brother.

"Hmm," Natsume muttered, "I'm going to take a shower real fast if that's alright," he said as he got up.

"Sure, this is going to take a while anyway," said Ukyo.

Before Natsume headed into the bathroom, he turned to ask his brother one more question. "Do you think you're going to go back to the condo today?"

Ukyo dropped the item in his hand into the sink at that question, scaring Azusa and Tsubaki away from him. "I, I'm not sure, sorry," he said calmly.

"No, it's okay," said Natusme, "You can stay here as long as you want. I don't mind really. I just wonder how long you're going to avoid the condo and Masaomi."

"I don't know," Ukyo admitted, sounding sad. "I just need some more time to think thing over about what happened."

"Well, okay, like I said, you can stay here as long as you need," Natsume said as he finally headed into the bathroom.

'How long am I going to avoid the rest of family and stay here with Natsume?' Ukyo thought to himself as he continued making breakfast.

* * *

Kimi was in such a deep sleep she barely heard someone calling her name. "Kimi, Kimi, Kimi are you getting up?" Kimi was still so sleepy she only responded by moaning softly. However another voice made it too difficult to stay asleep.

"Oi, Kimi get up!"

At that, Kimi sat up and looked around in surprise. She looked around and realized Ema and Yusuake were standing in her room.

"Time to get up Kimi," Ema said.

"Yeah come on, hurry," Yusuke insisted.

"Sorry," Kimi said as she got out of bed, "What's for breakfast?"

"Uh," both Ema and Yusuke both looked at each other confused.

"I don't know," Ema replied, "I supposed I'm going to have to make quick and easy since Ukyo's not here." She hurried out of the room.

"Man, this sucks not having him and Masa-Bro here," Yusuake moaned in frustration.

"Sucks?" he heard Kimi repeat..

"Uh, don't use a word like that okay?" he said, "Just get dressed like Ema told you to!" He dashed out of the room before he could do or say something else Kimi could mimic that she shouldn't.

Kimi did as she told about getting dressed and hurried out of the room. as she nearly ran into Subaru. "Oh whoa," he said catching Kimi up in his arms.

'Sorry," Kimi apologized, "I just want to get downstairs and help Big Sister with breakfast."

"So Kyo really is gone huh?" Subaru said out loud, "And I guess Masaomi is still gone too huh?"

Kimi nodded, "They got into a fight yesterday."

"They got into a fight?" Subaru asked out loud, "Wow, this is crazy, but it can happen I guess."

"Yeah that's what Big Sister and Louis said," Kimi told him as the two walked on together. "But I still think Yusuke's right, this sucks."

"Where did you learn that word?" Subaru asked.

"Yusuke," said Kimi.

"Of course," said Subaru, "Don't say that word though. It's not a word kids your age should say."

"Oh sure," said Kimi.

When the to came downstairs, they found Ema, Wataru and Yusuke struggling around trying to prepare something.

"How did Ukyo always managed to do this every morning and make it look so effortless?" Yusuke asked out loud.

"It's almost done, don't worry," Ema said as she started putting down a few simple omelets down on the table, "I know they're not that great, but it's the best I could do."

"They look okay to me," said Wataru as he started to eat his, "And it taste good."

"Yeah it does," said Yuauke as he ate his as well, "See we don't need Ukyo here to make us breakfast. We can manage on our own."

"I still wish they'd come home," said Kimi softly.

"We all do Kimi," said Ema.


	41. Chapter 41

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

"Uh so about these dishes," Yusake said once everyone was done with breakfast.

"I'll just do them when I get home from school today," Ema insisted gathering them up. Kimi helped too.

"You shouldn't push yourself like that just because Ukyo isn't here," said Subaru, "I don't think he or Masaomi would approve of you doing such a thing."

"I know, but I don't mind too much," Ema insisted. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Louis was standing behind her.

"Subaru's right Chi. Don't push yourself into doing all the chores. You do have 10 other brothers that can help with things like this," he said in a kind voice.

"I'll do it, I can do it" Wataru said eagerly raising his hand.

"We'll worry about that later alright?" Louis said patting his little brother on the head, "Let's head to school okay?"

"Thank you so much for taking us to school Louis," Kimi made sure to tell her big brother, taking his hand and walking with him to the front door.

"It's my pleasure Little Chi," Louis insisted.

* * *

"Louis?" Kimi asked as Louis drove her and Wataru to school.

"Yes Little Chi?" Louis replied.

"Do you think Masaomi and Ukyo will come home tonight?" Kimi asked.

"I don't know for sure Little Chi. We'll just have to wait and see. But I'm sure they'll come home soon," Louis assured his little sister.

"Louis?" Wataru suddenly asked.

"Yes?" Louis responded.

"Have you ever punch a brother?" Wataru asked sheepishly.

Louis actually chuckled a little bit at that. "I may not have ever really punched one of them. But I've had my fair share of maybe saying something mean to them, or say pull a prank on them that would get them really mad at me. Sometimes to the point they wouldn't even want to speak to me for a while. So, I've had strain relationships with some of them at some point or another. We have however been able to make up with them. Sometimes it just takes time. You'll just have to be patient okay? Can you try and be patient?"

"Yes Louis," both small children promised. Louis smiled in satisfaction.

When the children arrived at the house and Louis was starting to lead Kimi to her classroom, he noticed a huge group of women standing around together with one woman in the center who was speaking with a huge amount of passion over something. Among the ladies standing around, Louis happened to noticed Kimi's friend Mura holding her mother's hand. Both looked slightly disturbed over whatever the woman in the center was talking about. He was about to approach the group to find out what was going on, but was distracted by the feeling of someone tugging at his hand.

"Louis, are we going to class?" Kimi asked.

"Oh right Little Chi, let's get you to class," said Louis. He decided to just ignore what it was that group was going on about and instead led Kimi to her class.

When they came to the class, they happened to see Miss Hogo hard at work.

"Good morning Miss Hogo," Kimi said sheepishly.

"Oh good morning Kimi," Miss Hogo said as she started to turn around, "I'm glad to see your brothers got you to...," She paused in mid-sentence when she realized who Kimi was with. "Oh, you're not Masaomi or Ukyo. Sorry I thought one of usual brothers was bringing her today. You're the hair dresser right?"

"Yes, I'm Louis," Louis introduced himself, "I don't know how much you'll be seeing of our other two bother. Both are staying away from the condo for a while."

"Oh?" Miss Hogo in surprise.

"Yes, one's staying at our stepfather's plave while the other is staying with another brother's place," Louis explained

"Oh well I guess that's a good thing," said Miss Hogo. Suddenly another person came into the room

"Excuse Miss Ho...," the person stopped in mid-sentence, "Oh are you one of Kimi's brothers too?" Louis turned around to see Mura and her mother entering the room.

"Oh yes, I'm Louis, nice to meet you," he said kindly.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm glad you're here. I was just talking to a bunch of women outside and there was one woman outside trying to rally a bunch of other mothers to go see the principle about your sister Kimi," Mura's mother said.

"What about her?" Louis asked.

"She was saying her husband saw one of your brothers strike her and they want to pressure the principle to get a social worker to go inspect your home," Mura's mother explained, "and take her away."

"Really?" said Louis, looking slightly disturbed by that.

"This woman you're talking about, her last name wasn't Ichigi, was it?" Miss Hogo asked.

"Yes, we actually saw her husband and son at the museum when it happened. So now his wife is trying to help him by getting more parents on his side," said Mura's mother.

"I see," said Louis, "Um would you excuse me?" He knelt down to Kimi's level and patted her head. "Have a good day at school today Little Chi, okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi. She wondered just what it was Mura's mother was talking about in regards to someone taking her away. Why would someone want to take her away now? She didn't want to lave her home now. She liked it. Sure at first she wasn't sure if she liked it but now she'd rather be there than back at the orphanage, even if she could be with her friends again.

"Are you going to see the principle sir?" Mura's mother asked as Louis past her.

"Yes, hopefully before the group gets to her," said Louis.

"I'll go with you. My husband may be on their side but I'm not, at least not yet," said Mura's mother as the two walked off together. Mura and Kimi looked at each other confused.

"Do you think you're in trouble Kimi?" Mura asked.

"I don't know," Kimi said. She looked up at her teacher, "am I?"

"I hope not," was all Miss Hogo could reply.

Louis and Mura's mother hurried down the hallway towards the principle's office together. When they got there, they found it looked rather calm.

"Excuse me, but is there a chance that Ms. Tannin is available?" Mura's mother asked.

"Uh no, I'm afraid not at the moment. She has a big group inside there right now," said her secretary.

"Oh no," Mura's mother gasped, "We're too late!"

Just then Ms. Tannin's door opened and Ms. Tainnin stepped out followed by a big group of parents."Thank you for expressing your concern in the matter of this girl. I will look into it."

"Thank you," said the woman in the front of the group.

"That's Mrs. Ichigi," Mura's mother whispered to Louis.

Louis merely nodded before walking up to Miss Tannin. "Excuse me Ms. Tannin, you weren't just talking about my family and little sister were you?"

"And you are?" Ms. Tannin asked in a no no nonsense voice.

"Louis Asahina, my brother and sister go to this school," said Louis.

"Oh you're another brother huh?" Ms. Tannin asked. "Well you don't have to worry too much at the moment. I was able to make up with a compromise in regards to your situation to get those women off the case for a the moment. I've decide d o go to the house myself along with the girl's teacher to just look around and see what kind of environment she's living in. I'm sure you can pass that message on to your other brothers right?"

"Yes of course, do you know when that'll be?" Louis asked.

"No yet, I have to talk to the girl's teacher. But we will be coming, I can assure you of that," said Ms. Tannin.

"Alright, I should go home and let my brothers know about it then. Thank you," said Louis as he headed out of the office.

He walked past the group of women who were still standing around talking. Most turned and watch him walk past without Louis really looking their way.

"Well it's good to know Ms. Tannin is going to handle this situation," said one mother.

"I don't think she's handling it right," said Mrs. Ichigi, "I mean my husband saw one of them actually hit the little kid. That's not right if you ask me. And if Ms. Tannin isn't going to take the right course of action, I think I'm going to have to."

"You mean you're going to call social services?" a mother asked.

"I may just," said Ms. Ichigi, "I know my husband was telling me I should, if the principle doesn't take this action seriously."

* * *

When Louis got home he looked around for any brother he could find.

"Hello, anyone home?" he called out.

"Hey what's up Bro?" he heard Kaname call out from the top of the stairs.

Louis looked up at his brother. "We have a problem in regards to Little Chi and what happened over the weekend. Apparently some of the parents at her school want the principle to take action and get someone to come to the house and see if Little Chi should be taken away."

"What?" Kaname asked as he hurried down the stairs.

"They seemed pretty serious too," said Louis. "At least she was able to work out a compromise where only she and Little Chi's teacher are just going to come by for an inspection."

"This is getting a little bit out of hand," said Kaname rubbing his head. "This is usually something Masaomi and Ukyo would handle."

"Should we call them?" Louis asked.

"It might not hurt," said Kaname, "At least they should know."

* * *

Masaomi was looking over he charts of a patient mostly in a daze. He barley seemed to be aware of the crazy world around him. He almost didn't register the feeling of his phone going off in his pocket.

"Hello?" he asked as he answered.

"Masa," Kaname said on the other end.

"Kaname, is this important? I'm kind of busy," said Masaomi.

"Yes it is important," said Kaname, "Louis told me that some of the parents at Kimi's school are trying to pressure the principle to step in and do something to get Kimi taken away!" Masaomi was quiet for a moment as he tried to take in what his brother just told him. "You really need to find a way to make up with Ukyo and come home because I don't know if we can handle this as well as you can. Please do something to make up with him."

"I'll, I'll try," said Masaomi. He held his phone close to his body.

'I don't have a choice anymore, do I?' he finally thought as he started to look up Ukyo's number to call him.

* * *

Ukyo was sitting at his desk barley even moving the pencil in his hand over the paper work in front of him. It was so hard to focus on his work with so much going on in his life. When did his life become so complicated.

Just then his phone started to go off. He looked at the caller ID and saw it was Louis calling. "Louis, is everything okay?" he asked as he answered the phone.

"No, we have a problem at Little Chi's school," said Louis, "Apparently some of the parents don't think she's well off with us to the point they're trying to get the principle's help in getting her taken away. She already said she and Little Chi's teacher are coming to the house for an inspection."

"You mean they really are trying to get Kimi taken away?" Ukyo asked in alarm.

"It would appear so," said Louis, "Can you please try and make up with Masaomi so you can help with this? We could really use both your help."

"I'll call him right now and see if we can get together to talk," said Ukyo, "Bye." He quickly hung up on Louis and was about to call Masaomi when he realized Masaomi was calling him. "Masaomi?" he answered.

"Do you want to have lunch here at the hospital today?" Masaomi asked.

"I guess we could," said Ukyo, I'll come over right now."

"Thank you, we really need to work out our problems before they become worse for Kimi," said Masaomi.

"You heard what as going on at her school too?" Ukyo asked.

"Yes I did and now I really do want to make up," said Masaomi.

"Me too, I'll be right over," said Uyo as he hung up. He hoped that this lunch would help solve some of their problems to the point Kimi didn't have to suffer even more.

* * *

"Well Masa-Bro seemed up to trying to make amends with Kyo," Kaname told Louis.

"So did Ukyo," said Louis, "Let's just hope they do manage to work it out before we lose Little Chi."


	42. Chapter 42

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM

Ukyo had to more or less force himself to head into his brother's hospital. As much as he knew he had to work things out with Masaomi for Kimi's sake, that didn't mean it was going to be easy. He dragged his feet ashe headed to the cafeteria. He looked around and quickly spotted his brother siting at a table tucked way in the corner, sipping a small coffee. Masaomi looked up and waved him over to the table.

"Hello Masaomi," Ukyo said as he came to the table and took a seat.

"Hello Ukyo," Masaomi said, "coffee?" He offered his brother up another cup.

"Thank you, is there cream in it?" Ukyo asked.

"Yes, just the way you like it," said Masaomi with a smile. A huge silence came up between the two of them as they say looking at each other, occasionally taking a sip of their car.

"So," Masamomi said finally, "I guest the first thing that needs to happen is for me to apologize for what I did yesterday at the museum. I'm sorry I let myself get carried away to the point that I punched you."

"Thank you, apologize accepted," Ukyo said with a smile, "And I apologize too for punching you."

"You have no reason to apologize. I was the one that punched you first and," Masamomi had to pause for a moment, "And I was the one that punched Kimi. Everything that happening now is all my fault."

"No don't be like that," Ukyo said, "I mean I kind of provoked you with what I was saying about Miss Hogo. I could have acted better about that."

"Do you really feel she likes you in that sense?" Masaomi asked as calmly as he could, trying to come across as being a curious brother, rather than a jealous brother.

"I don't know now," Ukyo admitted, "I could have easily been misreading what she was saying to me out of sure hope I may have a chance with the woman." He shook his head in frustration. "Look let's not worry about that right now! We need to focus on the more important thing, making sure Kimi doesn't get taken away. Not only would it be devastating to everyone in the family, but Mom would kill us if we let something happen to her!"

"Yeah I know, I've already called her actually," Masaomi said.

"You did, even though it's probably really late over there right now?" Ukyo asked.

"Oh yeah, but I figured she and Rintaro should know what's going on," said Masaomi, "But I'm sure they'll still want to call once they hear about this."

"Well in the meantime, we still have to worry about this whole situation between us if we're going to be able to keep Kimi," Ukyo said.

"I know," Masaomi said, "Well if you have no problem in forgiving me for what I did, then I have no more problems with you. I could probably see to coming home."

"I could too, if you really do feel that we can get along again," said Ukyo. He held out his hand towards his brother, "What do you say?"

"I say I'm glad we could work past this," said Masaomi as he shook his brother hand back. Each smiled at each, like brothers again. "So see you tonight back at the condo?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Ukyo, "I'll just call Natsume and let him know I won't be spending the night with again."

Just then Masamomi's pager went off. "Oh I better go, it looks like I'm needed in surgery!" He quickly stood up and hurried away. "I meant what I said, I will be coming home tonight. It just might not be until real late!" He called back one last time to his brother before disappearing from sight.

"I will too," Ukyo tried to call back, but Masaomi was already long gone. He smiled with contentment, feeling like he and his brother had really managed to make a breakthrough. He was distracted by the sound of his own phone going off. He quickly answered it.

"Hello, Mr. Asahina?" said his secretary, "Can you see if you can come back to the office? You're urgently needed."

"Oh sure, I'll be right back," Ukyo assured her before hanging up.

'Looks like I won't be coming back to the condo until late tonight either,' he thought, 'Oh, at least we're going home, me and Masaomi.'

* * *

"Psst, Kimi," Kimi's friend Edi whispered during coloring time, "Why did you put make-up over your eye?"

"It's not make-up," Kimi whispered back."I accidentally got punch by my brother."

"Which one, the loud one who goes to school here?" Edi asked.

"No my big doctor who's a doctor," Kimi said trying not to look at Edi.

"Edi, Kimi, let's focus on coloring right now okay?" Miss Hogo said as she walked past the two children. She stopped when she came to Kimi's drawing. It was of Kimi standing in a big flower field holding her two bothers, Masamo and Ukyo's hands. Both were smiling at each other. The look of the two men made her heart feel a tad bit heavy. "That's a nice picture Kimi," she made sure to mention.

Kimi looked up surprised. "Oh thank you," she said timidly.

"I hope you're not too mad at your brothers over what happened yesterday," Miss Hogo said.

"No," said Kimi, "I just wish they would all come home."

"Oh I'm sure they will soon," Miss Hogo assured her.

"Are you still mad at them? You sounded mad yesterday," Kimi said.

"I was but, I'll get over it," Miss Hogo assured her.

"They're not bad," Kimi spoke up.

"Oh I know honey, I understand," Miss Hogo said, "But that doesn't mean that once and a while they do mean things that can make people mad at them."

Kimi nodded her head. "I still wish they'd come home."

"Don't worry, like I said, I'm sure they will soon. I mean, a real brother won't want to stay away from a sister who needs them for too long and your brothers are people who know and understand that."

Kimi again nodded her head before looking at the picture. "Do you think I should give this to Ukyo or to Masaomi?"

"Personally, I think you should take it home and put it on your fridge so that way they'll have to come home and see it," said Miss Hogo with a smile, patting the little girl's head. Then she looked at the time. "Alright boys and girls, let's put away our crayons and get ready for lunch."

"Can we eat outside?" one of the students asked.

"No, today we're going to eat inside, It's getting too cold to eat outside," said Miss Hogo. The children all gathered up their lunch items and headed out towards the cafeteria.

* * *

"Kimi, are you sure you're okay?" Mura asked as she, Kimi and they're other friends all sat around eating.

"Yes, I'm fine, just sad," Kimi insisted.

"Why did one of your brothers hit you anyway?" asked another friend Harumi.

"He didn't mean to. He was trying to hit one of my other brothers," Kimi said.

"Why would he do that?" asked another friend Dai.

"They got into a fight. That's what brothers do sometimes, fight," Kimi insisted, trying to not go too deep into the conversation, "but they didn't mean it. And they even went away for a little bit just to cool down. They're still nice brothers."

"Nicer than the one that goes to this school that yells?" asked Harumi.

"Wataru only yells when he gets excited!" Kimi inisited loudly, "He's nice too!"

"Sorry," Harumi said quietly.

"I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to be rude!" Kimi quickly said.

"It's okay," said Harumi.

Suddenly Kimi felt something had hit her head. She looked up and saw it was Aiji again.

"Oops, it feels like my tray hit something," he said with a smirk.

"You hit my head!" Kimi informed him mad.

"Oh really, you?" Aiji said, "You know my father told me since you're just an orphan you don't really matter in the world and that everyone should just ignore you, so that hopefully you'll go away. That's why your brother hit you. He didn't care if you were there or not."

"That's not true! He hit me on accident!" Kimi shouted as she all but jumped up and pushed the boy away. She had had it with him and the way he kept treating her. Especially if he was going to start talking bad about her brothers. Aiji looked shocked and mad that Kimi had just pushed him.

"You don't get to push me around! I'm bigger than you!" he shouted back. He dropped his tray and pushed Kimi down hard on to the floor. "I hope you do get taken away from your brothers and are never seen again. The whole world would be better off if you just disappeared! That's what my daddy told me!" Kimi could feel tears forming in her eyes. She was quickly distracted by Wataru suddenly appearing in front of her.

"Leave my sister alone!" He shouted.

"She's not even your real sister," said Aiji, "She's an unwanted reject who's real mommy and daddy realized she wasn't needed!"

"Alright what's going on?" Ms. Tannin asked as she walked up to the group. She looked Aiji over. "Aren't you Aiji Ichigo? Weren't you told to leave this young lady alone?"

"Well she pushed me first!" Aiji whined.

Ms. Tannin took a deep breath, "something tells me young man, she was provoked by you to do such a thing, and you escalated since she's the one on the ground. Now please leave her alone. And if I hear anything else about you coming anywhere near her, I may stop by to have a talk with your parents! Now please, leave!"

Aiji looked disappointed before walking off with his friends.

"Miss Asahina, I'm sorry for that," Miss Tannin said once Aiji and his friends were gone and Wataru was helping her up.

"It's okay, I just wished he wouldn't say mean things about my bothers. I really love them and they didn't mean to hit me!" Kimi said.

"I know I bet they didn't," said Ms. Tannin, "You really do love your brothers don't you?"

"And my sister," Kimi added.

"I see," said Ms. Tannin.

"And we love her too!" Wataru made sure to mention.

"I can imagine," said Ms. Tannin. She watched the way Wataru and Kimi interacted with each other.

'Maybe I shouldn't pursue this after all,' she thought, 'Something tells me this whole thing was blown way out of proportion."

* * *

The rest of the day went off without a fuss for Kimi. After school she was with Wataru outside of the school waiting for Ema and Yusuake to pick them up.

"Wataru, do you want to see my drawing?" Kimi asked as they waited.

"Yes, yes I like your drawings!" said Wataru. Kimi pulled out the drawing of her with Ukyo and Masaomi. "Oh it's so pretty! I wish we could show it to them!"

"Yeah my teacher said that if I take it home and display it, they'll have to come home to see it," Kimi said.

"I hope it works,"said Wataru.

"What works?" Ema asked suddenly coming up to the small children with Yusuake behind her.

"My teacher says if I keep this on display, Ukyo and Masaomi will have to come home so they can see it," Kimi said showing Ema her drawing.

"Oh it's wonderful Kimi," Ema praised, "I think your teacher's right, this will Ukyo and Masaomi want to come home."

"Yeah sure," Yusuke muttered. Ema nudged him a little.

"So who's ready to go home?" she asked.

"I am!" both children shouted . The group made them home happily, not trying to do anything to bring up the bitter subject of Masaomi and Ukyo not being around.

When they got home, Subaru was getting home himself.

"Hello everyone," he said.

"Hi Subaru," Ema said with a smile.

"What's that?" Subaru asked looking at picture in Ema's hand

"Oh it's Kimi's drawing from school," said Ema showing it to Subaru.

"Hmm, good work Kimi," said Subaru.

"Thank you," said Kimi as the family venture into their home.

"Um, is there any word on when these two will come home?" Subaru asked Ema and Yusuke as they walked behind the two little ones.

"No, not at all," said Ema.

"Of course, we did just get home. Maybe something happened and they are coming home," said Yusuke.

Just then they heard the doorbell ring.

"Who could that be?" Subaru asked as he walked to the door again. There stood a middle aged woman with a scowl look. "Can I help you?" Subaru asked.

"Is this the Asahina residents?" the woman asked sternly.

"Uh yes," said Subaru. The woman brushed past him and into the house. "Um can I help you?" Subaru asked as he followed her inside the house.

"I'm Ms. Yakkai, I'm with social services and I'm here in regards to one Kimi Asahina. It seems that there's some concern parents that don't feel this is the best place for her to be," said the woman.

" I'm sorry, what?" Subaru asked.

"I'm here to conduct a home inspection of the place Kimi Asahina lives, and if I feel this isn't a suitable place for her, I will be removing her from this place immediately, today in fact."


	43. Chapter 43

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM

"Um, excuse me," Subaru said as he followed the stingy looking woman. " I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding here...,"

"No misunderstanding," the woman said without hesitating, "This is the home of Kimi Asahina correct? I was informed by concern parents of her classmates that this isn't the best place for her. She's all alone here with something but un-responsible men who have repeatedly exposed to forms of child abuse."

"Child abuse?" Subaru repeated.

"One of them even hit her right in public in fact with several witnesses," said Ms. Yakkai.

"That was just a big accident," Subaru said.

"Did you see the incident?" asked Ms. Yakkai.

"Well no, not in person," said Subaru.

"Then there's no way you can actually verify that it was an accident," Ms. Yakkai said sounding smug, "Now then may I please speak to oldest brother here?"

"Well I guess that's me a the moment," said Subaru.

The woman turned and looked at him in surprise. "_You're_ the oldest brother?" she said looking at him over the rims of her glasses. "Mmm-hmm," she muttered as she wrote something down on her clipboard and started to walk off again.

"At the moment!" Subaru tried to insist as he ran after her. "I have several older brothers but they're just not here right now."

"Uh-huh, sure, where exactly?" asked Ms. Yakkai.

"Uh I don't know for sure. They do have jobs and other things they have to do during the day," Subaru tried to explain.

"So what they just leave a child all alone with other children?" asked Ms. Yakkai.

"I'm 20 years old and in college. I'm hardly a child," said Subaru, "And they know that if Kimi needs more of an adult supervise to be here for her. That's what happened last week when she was sick and had to stay home.

"She was sick? How did she get sick?" asked Ms. Yakkai.

"She went out to play without her coat and caught a small cold, nothing serious," Subaru tried to insist.

"Who let her out without her coat? Ms. Yakkai kept pressing.

"Our youngest brother got a little ambiguous and took her to the playground alone without it. It was all just an accident," Subaru said, starting to sound exhausted in talking to the woman.

"You and your brothers let your youngest brother take her from the house unsupervised to the park alone? Oh dear lord," said Ms. Yakkai as she wrote some more notes down on her clipboard.

"That was again an accident. You can't tell me that no other kid has ever done that before," Subaru tried to point out.

"Yes but I don't think those kids were adopted and could maybe be placed into a better home where things like this wouldn't happen," said Ms. Yakkai, "Now then, may I please be allowed to continue with my inspection."

'This is more tiering than basketball practice,' Subaru thought.

* * *

"Hey Wataru," Yusuake asked his youngest brother as the two sat in the living room. "Do you know if Kimi's been having trouble with that little punk at school?"

"Yeah, today he hit her head with his lunch tray and then pushed her to the ground," Wataru told him.

"Man!" Yusuake moaned mad as he slumped up against the couch, "That punk really gets to me! If he was anyone else I would have already have taken him down! Why is it so wrong to beat up a little kid?!" He jumped up mad, slightly startling Wataru.

"You want to beat up a child?" the two suddenly heard a shrill voice call out. Both turned to see a somewhat evil looking woman walking into the family room followed closely by Subaru.

"Uh, who's this?" Yusuke asked.

"I'm Ms. Yakkai and I'm with social services. I'm here to see if Kimi Asahina is safe being here. And from what I've just heard I may not not even have to full house inspection!" said the woman.

"What, what are you talking about?" asked Yusuke.

"She's here to see if she needs to take Kimi away," Subaru tried to explain.

"What?" said Yusuke.

"No, no you can't take little sister away!" Wataru whined.

"I'm sorry young man but if I feel it's best for her I have no choice," said Ms. Yakkai, "Now where is Kimi?"

"Like we'd tell you!" said Yusuke.

"Are you attempting to keep me from doing my duty?" Ms. Yakkai asked. She quickly scribbled more on her clip board.

"Yusuke, don't make things more difficult," Subaru said calmly.

"Little sister went with Big sister to the kitchen to help put her picture up," said Wataru sounding sad.

"Thank you, I'll go see her right now," said Ms. Yakkai as she started to walk off.

"She's not really going to take the kid away is she?" Yusuke asked.

"I don't know, just don't do anything to escalate the situation," Subaru pleaded as he followed the woman.

"Hey what does that mean?" Yusuke asked as he too followed his brother.

* * *

"Here we go Kimi," Ema said as she helped hang Kimi's new picture on the fridge along with several of her other drawings. The fridge was starting to get really full. "I really like this one."

"I can't wait for Masa and Kyo to see it!" said Kimi. She looked around at the kitchen and saw that none of the breakfast dishes were done. "I don't think Kyo will like this mess though."

"Yeah looks like none of our brothers managed to get these done after all," said Ema, "That's okay we can still do them right?"

"Yeah," said Kimi smiling. Ema patted her head before moving over to the sink to start the cleaning.

"What a mess!" the two suddenly heard a loud voice shriek. Both girls turned to see a strange woman walking into the kitchen looking disgusted

"Um can I help you?" Ema asked. She felt Kimi move behind her as if to hide from the woman.

"She looks scary," she whispered. Ema patted her head for comfort.

"I'm Ms. Yakkai with social services and I'm here to do a home inspection in regards to Kimi Asahina," the woman explained as she walked around the kitchen, still looking disgusted.

"What about Kimi?" Ema asked, now doing more of an effort to block Kimi from the woman's view.

"I was informed by several concern parents of her fellow classmates that she may not be in the best environment," the woman continued to explain, still looking disgusted at the kitchen. Though in all honest the only thing out of place was the dirty breakfast dishes. "And I can only say with what I've heard so and seen so far I'm starting to see just how correct they were! I don't think she should be staying here any longer and should leave with her right now."

"What?" said both Kimi and Ema, both trying even harder to keep her hidden.

"Hold on, wait a second!" Subaru shouted as he and Yusuke both came running into the kitchen. Both ran and stood next to Ema, blocking Kimi more from the woman's view "Please, I don't think taking Kimi away now is all that necessary."

"Oh but it is, what with her living in a such a violent and dirty place like this!" said Ms. Yakkai.

"Dirty, there's just a few dishes," said Yusuke.

"Something tells me that if the kitchen's like this, then there's a good chance the rest of the house is no better," said Ms. Yakkai with a sneer.

"No, don't take Little Sister away!" Wataru begged as he watched the scene unfold just outside the kitchen.

"Wataru, what's going on?" Iori asked walking up behind him.

"That mean nasty lady's trying to take Little Sister away!" Wataru said sounding terrified.

"What?" said Iori as he walked into the kitchen himself. Neither one happen to see Futo also watching and listening.

"Hmm," he muttered.

"Excuse me, is everything okay in here?" Iori asked as he walked into the kitchen.

And who are you?" asked Ms. Yakkai.

"I'm Iori Asahina. Is it true that you're trying to take away my youngest sister?" Iori asked as he moved around the woman towards his other brothers and sister. He managed to move behind the three older ones, where he saw Kimi both hiding and crying. He bent down and picked her up.

"Don't let her take me," he heard Kimi plead softly in his ear.

"Don't worry Kimi, we won't," Iori assured her also in a whisper. "Ma'am with all due respect can this wait until one of our older brothers are at home?"

"I don't think that can happen," said Ms. Yakkai.

"Can we at least call them so you can talk to one of them?" Ema asked.

"I don't have time for such things," said the woman, obviously starting to get annoyed.

"Well hello, what do we have here?" Futo suddenly said as he walked into the kitchen, making the woman jump. Futo looked her over with a smirk on his face. "Excuse me Angel but where have you been all my life?" he asked as he started to stroke her cheek.

"I'm, I'm sorry what?" the woman asked, sounding confused.

"I don't think I've ever seen a more radiant creature such as yourself in my life. Please, please tell me your name," Futo said as he continued to stroke the woman's face.

"Uh, Yakkai, Miss Ayako Yakkai," the woman sputtered.

"Ayako Yakkai, what a lovely name for such a lovely woman," Futo said in a dream like voice.

"What the heck is he doing?" Yusuke asked.

"Maybe we should just wait and see what he does," said Ema.

"Might as well, it's keeping the woman from focusing on taking Kimi," said Iori.

"So tell me sweet angel, did you come all this way just to see me?" Futo asked.

"Uh no, I'm here to possibly look into removing Kimi Asahina," said Ms. Yakkai.

"Oh that's a shame. You made me feel so weak and pathetic," said Futo, "You should just go before I do or say something I'll regret due to my broken heart." He gripped the woman's arm and started to lead her away. His other six siblings followed in curiosity including Kimi still being held by Iori.

"Um how are you exactly?" Ms. Yakkai asked as Futo pulled her along to the front door.

"Just a boy now with a broken heart!" Futo moaned. He looked like he was on the verge of tears "You should go, now."

"I'm sorry what?" asked Ms. Yakkai.

"Go, please just go!" Futo practically pleaded, "Go please before you hurt me even more!" By this point they had just arrived at the front door and Futo had opened it.

"Hey wait, I still have a job to do!" Ms. Yakkai tried to protest.

"Then please come back when I'm not here, less you break my heart even more!" Futo said shoving the woman out the door.

""Uh when will that be?" Ms. Yakkai asked as she was more or less thrown out of house.

"Who knows my lovely lady, who know," Futo said, "Good bye my angle." And with that, he slammed the door in the woman's face. He turned and looked at his other siblings annoyed, "You're welcome!" he mutterd mad.

"Wait, you mean that was all an act?" Yusuke asked.

"Of course it was an act. Did you obviously think I'd go for a woman like that? Please!" Futo said. He looked Ema up and down, "I'd much rather go for a hot girl like my older sister."

"Go for?" Kimi asked.

"Don't worry about that," said Iori.

"Futo, thank you for that. I wasn't sure what we would have done," said Subaru.

"What do we do now?" Ema asked.

"I think the best course of action would be to alert our older brothers about what happened so that maybe they can deal with the woman next time," said Subaru.

"Good idea, let's get started on that," said Iori as he gently put Kimi down.

"You do what you want. I'm going to relax in my room," said Futo as he started to walk off. He stopped quickly and turned back around real fast. "Oh by the way you may want to know the name of the person who called that ghastly looking woman. I saw the name of contact on her clipboard. It said Ms. Ichigi."

"Ichigi?" said Ema, Wataru and Kimi.

"That ring a bell or something?" Futo asked.

"Unfortunately yes," said Ema.

"Hmm, they just seem like another stupid person for me to deal with. See you all later," Futo said as he walked off.

"Futo wait," said Kimi hurrying after him.

"What?" Futo asked turning to look at her.

"Why did you help get rid of that lady that was trying to take me away?" Kimi asked , "I thought you'd want me to go since you don't like me."

Futo looked at her questionable before kneeling down to her level. "get one thing straight, no one tells me what I don't don't like. I like what I like, and no one tell me otherwise. And for me getting rid of that lady it was just because I couldn't stand the sight of her. She was so ugly compared to our other sister and you. I can't stand ugly people. I grotesque them ore than stupid people. That's why I got rid of her, understand? It has nothing to do with you."

"Oh," said Kimi, "Well thank you anyway, I don't want to leave here. I like all my brothers and sister. Even you kind of." At that she surprised Futo by kissing him on the cheek and wrapping her arms around his neck. "And I still think you're somewhat nice."

"Hey watch the hair!" Futo shouted.


	44. Chapter 44

DISCLAIMER; I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLIC IN ANYWAY, SHAPE, OR FORM

"So who should we call first?" Ema asked.

"I would think the first people we should call are Masamoi and Ukyo, even if they're still mad at each other," said Iori.

"Good idea," said Subaru, "One of us should try each of their cell phones while the others should try their work places." Each of the older siblings nodded and pulled out a phone, walked off to see if they could have a conversation in private.

" I'm out of here," Futo said walking off like he was planning to do in the first place. He felt his face where Kimi had kiss him. It was still warm.

"Wataru," Kimi said to her other brother, "I'm scared. That lady scares me the same way Aiji's daddy scares me."

"Don't worry little Sister," Wataru said taking her hand, "It'll be fine you'll see."

* * *

"I have a good feeling about this show," Tsubaki said looking over a new script he and Azusa had just picked up from their manager.

"You sure seem happy over doing a kid's show again huh?" Azusa said also looking over the script.

"Well if it'll make Kimi happy why not?" Tsubaki said, "I'm really impressed that our manger found us a kids show worth auditioning for so quickly."

"I just hope Ema's not mad we didn't get the dishes done like we promised. She's probably home by now," said Azusa looking at his watch.

"I don't know what that was but I won't let it happen again!" They suddenly heard a shrill woman's voice complaining. They both and looked to see a displeasing looking woman storm past them towards a waiting car. "I am taking that girl tomorrow no matter what. No way she's safe in a place like this!"

"Excuse me, can we help you?" Azusa asked walking up to the woman.

"And how are you?" the woman snapped.

"I'm Azusa Asahina and this is Tsubaki Asahina," Azusa introduced himself.

"Oh more brothers? Well that's just fine, but it still won't help in anyway!" the woman said, clearly annoyed.

"Who are you exactly?" Tsubaki asked.

"I'm Ms. Yakkai and I'm with social services. I was here to investigate the well being of Kimi Asahina and if she should remain in this household!"

"Kimi?" Tsubaki said, "Why do you think you need to take Kimi away?"

"Well because there's been talk about how she's not safe living here," the woman explained.

"What?" both twins said.

"You may have postpone it, but rest assured, I will be back tomorrow with law enforcement if need be to remove Kimi from this place!" Ms. Yakkai said getting into her car and drove off mad.

"You don't think she's serious do you?!" Tsubaki asked once she was gone.

"She sounded serious," said Azusa sounding worried.

"Hey you two welcome home," Kaname said walking up to them, holding some grocery bags.

"Where have you beeen?" Tsubaki asked.

"I had gone to the store to get some groceries since Kyo isn't around at the moment," said Kaname.

"You just missed a social worker who said she was here to take away Kimi!" said Tsubaki.

"What?" Kaname said, "But I thought the principle assured Louis she and Kimi's teacher would come by for an inspection first before they would try bothering with social services."

"What happened?" Azusa asked.

"Louis said there were a bunch of different women at Wataru and Kimi's school trying to get the principle to get social services to investigate our home in regards to Kimi. But the principle said she was able to make them calm down by saying she and the girl's teacher were going to come by to do an inspection of the house instead," Kaname explained.

"Maybe someone else got social services involved in this," Azusa said.

"And whoever it is, is going to have to pay if they think they can just take Kimi away!" said Tsubaki.

* * *

"...and sine you did such a good job, I got you this," Masaomi was telling one of his small patients who had just gone through a small surgery. He handed the child bunny dressed up as a super hero.

The child gasp and hugged it tight. "Thank you!" he said.

"You're welcome" Masaomi said, "You did a good job today." He walked out of the room with a smile on his face. He was feeling a lot better now working with the children after he had made peace with Ukyo. Suddenly he heard something coming over the loud speaker.

"Dr. Asahina to the nurses station here,"

Masaomi quickly headed to the nurses' station where a nurse was one the phone.

"Oh here you are," she said, "I have your brother on the phone, Iori. He says it's important."

"Iori's calling?" Masamo asked. Before he could take the phone, he felt his own phone going off in his pocket. He pulled it out to see it was Subaru trying to call him.

"Why are they both trying to contact me?" he asked out loud. He took the phone from the nurse first, "Hello Iori?"

"Oh good I got you," said Iori. Masaomi heard him call out, "Subaru I got him."

"Iori, what's going on?" Masaomi asked.

"We just had a visit from a social worker claiming to be here wanting to remove Kimi due to her impression that she's not safe with us," Iori explained.

"What?" said Masaomi

'Didn't Kaname tell me the princible and Miss Hogo would be coming by first?' he thought.

"Iori, is she still there?" he quickly asked.

"No she's left but I think she may try coming back tomorrow," said Iori.

"Okay, how's Kimi?" asked Masaomi.

"She's a little scared about what happened," said Iori.

"I bet, well I'll come home right away," said Masaomi.

"Thank you!" said iori.

"It's no big deal. Both me and Ukyo were going to be coming home today anyway," said Masaomi.

"That's great," said Iori, "I'll see you when you get home."

"Yes," said Masaomi, "Bye now." He handed the nurse back the phone, "I have to duck out early, family emergency."

"Uh sure, everything okay?" asked the nurse.

"I don't know, hopefully nothing too serious that I can't come back to work tomorrow," said Masoami as he hurried off.

* * *

"This will work perfectly, thank you Ukyo," Ukyo's boss looking over the report Ukyo had given him.

"No problem sir," said Ukyo . He was about to turn his attention to another form of work when his phone went off. He was about to answer it when he heard his office phone going off.

"Yes?" he said hitting the speaker button.

"Sir, one of your brothers is trying to call you, says his name is Yusuke," said the front desk lady.

"Yusuke?" said Ukyo. He cast a glance over to his cellphone and saw it was Ema calling.

"Um could you ask him what he wants since I also have my sister calling my cellphone," he asked the receptionist.

"He says if Ema's calling not to worry. They were both trying to get a hold of you for the same reason," said the receptionist.

"Oh, okay," said Ukyo as he answered his cellphone, "Hello Ema, is everything alright?"

"No, something bad just happened," Ema said, sounding like she was trying to remain calm, "We had a visit from some woman claiming to be from social services. She said she was here to investigate the house and maybe take Kimi away!"

"What, but I thought the principle said she and the teacher were going to come by first!" said Ukyo.

"What?" Ema asked.

"Ema, is the woman still there?" Ukyo asked.

"No, Futo managed to get her to leave but I don't think she's done with this," said Ema.

"I see," said Ukyo, "Don't worry I'm coming home right now!"

"You are?" Ema siad sounding happy.

"I was already going to come home today anyway," Ukyo asked.

"You were?" said Ema.

"Oh yes," said Ukyo, "And so is Masaomi. I'll be back at the condo soon. You should try calling Masaomi too and let him know what's going on."

"Subaru and Iori are already working on that," Ema said.

"Good, oh real fast, did she mention how contacted her?" Ukyo asked.

"Futo said she saw a name on a form on her clipboard that said Ichigi," Ema told him.

"Ichigi?" said Ukyo, "thank you Ema. I'll be home soon." He hung up, but before taking off, he instead started to call up Natsume.

* * *

Natusme was working as usual when he heard his phone off. "Hello?" he answered.

"Natsue, it's me Ukyo."

"Everything okay?" Natsume asked.

"I was calling to let you know two things. One, I'm going home tonight," Ukyo said.

"Good," said Natsume.

"But there's something else I need to tell you. There was a social worker at the condo today threatening to take Kimi away and apparently the name of the person who contacted her was Ichigi," Ukyo said.

"What?" Natsume said.

"Yeah, that was my reaction. I got to go. I got to see what's happening back at the house. I'll let you know if anything new pops up," said Ukyo.

"Sure thank you, bye now," Natsume said. He immediately got up from his desk and stormed out of the office, heading straight towards Ichigi's office. He barged into the man's office in time to see him on the phone and talking.

"I know dear, I think you did the right thing," he was saying.

"Who are you talking to?" Natsume asked the man.

"Natsume, what are you doing here?" Ichigi asked annoyed.

"I just got a phone call from my brothers claiming that a social worker was trying to take my little sister away and there's a rumor that your family name was on the sheet as people who contacted her!" Natsume said.

"Honey, how are you talking to?" asked the voice on the other end.

"One of the girl's brothers, the one I told you about," Ichigi told her, "I'l call you back alright?"

However before he could hang up Natsue grabbed the phone. "Hello, is this Ichigi's wife? he asked.

"Yes why?" asked the woman.

"Did you call for a social worker?" Natusme asked.

"Well yes, after what my husband told me about what he saw on Sunday and the lack of concern the principle seem to be giving I had to do something! I was even able to get the same worker who helped my husband with that stupid slut from five years ago," said the woman.

"What, what are you talking about?" Natsume asked.

"Five years ago, some slut working at my husband's old company was claiming she was carrying his child," Ichigi's wife explained, "Now of course that couldn't be true, but he still...,"

Ichigi quickly grabbed the phone back. "Honey I'll see at home okay!" He quickly hung up.

"What was she talking about?" Natsume asked.

"Nothing, it's nothing," Ichigi asked.

"Oh really?" said Natsume not sounding convinced.

Ichigi sighed annoyed. "You remember that stupid girl I told you about from my old company? Well after she got herself knocked up, she went around trying to claim anyone she could they were the father. So for the sake of the office I got a social worker to look into it. Apparently my wife found the same woman who dealt with it. That's it the end. After I contacted the woman, I never dealt with it again. I transfered here and tried to put it out of my mind alright?"

"Do you kow what the baby was?" Natusme asked

"No, nor do I care. Now leave me alone," Ichigi insisted.

"I would if you would leave my family alone," said Natsume.

"Well maybe you need to really consider if Kimi's really well off with you," said Ichigi.

"I don't see how it's really your business," said Natusme.

"You know what, maybe you're right. But I still think Kimi's she's not good being with you," said Ichigi.

"This isn't over," Natsume warned before walking out, "You just try taking Kimi away. I can promise you it'll be nothing but a huge pointless battle on your part."


	45. Chapter 45

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi sat in a corner with Wataru as they watched most of their brothers and Ema talking and arguing about the mean scary that lad that had just been here threatening to take Kimi away from the family. She held Beenjee close to her chest feeling worried. After Tsubaki, Azusa and Kaname came home they started asking questions about what happened and next thing Kimi and Wataru knew all of their big brothers were having their loud conversation.

"Beenjee, I'm scared" she whispered to her toy. The way her brothers were talking loudly, they sounded really mad about the whole thing.

Ema didn't really participated in the conversation. Instead she was one of the others who was standing around listening, every now and then adding her input. She happened to glance over at Kimi and Wataru who were watching from the sidelines.

"Kimi, Wataru, you don't have to sit there listening to this," she said walking over to them, "Why don't you two go and play outside or in your rooms for a little bit."

"Okay," said Wataru. He gently took Kimi's hand ,"What do you want to play Little Sister?"

"Uh Tea Party?" Kimi answered, not really paying attention to what Wataru and Ema were saying to her. She was still too busy watching her brothers' heated conversation about her and that mean lady.

"Go upstairs you two," Ema kept encouraging as she ushered the two towards the stairs, "Please just go upstairs."

"Listen to her you two," Subaru also said walking over to them, "there's way better things you could be doing right now."

"You can even try seeing if Juli's up to playing," Ema suggested.

"Oh I like playing tea party with Juli. It's so cute and funny watching him drink from the eat cups!" said Wataru, "Right Little Sister."

"Huh, yeah," said Kimi. She squeezed Wataru's hand and the two walked off again.

"Kimi really seems upset huh?" Ema said quietly.

"Yeah I know, and I don't blame her," said Subaru. He flinched a little when he happen to feel Ema squeezing his hand. "You scared about this too?"

"A little," Ema admitted, "I felt so helpless when that lady was here and she was going on about how we're just teenagers and couldn't stop her from taking Kimi if she wanted to."

"Don't worry, we wouldn't have let that happen," Subaru assured her.

* * *

Masaomi was feeling really nervous as he pulled up to his home. He wasn't sure what to expect when he went inside, but knew this was no time to let his worries get the best of him. He had to stay focused in order to protect Kimi. He was just about to get out of his car when he happened to noticed to Ukyo arriving at the house as well. The look on his face suggested he was feeling the same way he was feeling.

"Ukyo," he called out as he hurried out of the car.

"Oh Masa," said Ukyo. He sounded relieved to see his brother.

"Did you get a call about the visitor for Kimi too?" Masaomi asked nervously.

"Yeah, Ema called the office," said Ukyo.

"Iori called me," said Masaomi. He breathed a heavy sigh. "This can't be legal right? Ins't there some sort of procedure before social services can remove a child?"

"There's supposed to be," said Ukyo, "Don't worry, next time she comes I'll be ready for her."

"Let's hope so," said Masaomi as the two brothers walked into the house. They headed down to the family room where they happen to come across a group of nearly all of their other brothers and Ema standing around talking or in some cases arguing. No doubt it was about the Kimi issue as well.

* * *

Ema watched as he brothers kept talking. She hope they knew what they were talking about. Then she happen to notice two newcomers to the room. "Masaomi, Ukyo, you're home!" she shouted with joy so loudly that nearly all the other brothers stopped arguing and looked towards the two of them.

"Well it's about time you two got home!" said Yusuke, "We could have used you two earlier you know! Some ugly broad was here trying to take Kimi away!"

"We know, Iori and Ema already called telling us about it," Masaomi said as he and Ukyo joined their siblings' group.

"Are you going to be able to do anything about it?" Ema asked hopefully.

"Yes, we are going to try handling this now," said Ukyo.

* * *

Kimi and Wataru had just reached the top of the stairs when they happened to hear some new voices from down below. They both made a mad dash to the top to see Masaomi and Ukyo standing among their other brothers.

"Masa, Kyo!" Wataru shouted with joy.

"They're back!" Kim also shouted as she ran back down stairs.

* * *

"So you two back for good?" Tsubaki asked.

"Let's hope so," said Masaomi.

"Masa, Kyo!" Kimi shouted right as she came to the bottom of the stairs. She ran over to the two of them and managed to wrap her arms around both of their legs, "I'm so glad you're back!"

"Yes, we are,"Masaomi said as he knelt down in front of Kimi, "I hope you and Wataru managed to behave yourselves while we were gone."

"Of course we did!" said Wataru as he came running up to his brothers too.

"That's good," said Ukyo patting Wataru's head.

"I drew a picture for you two, do you want to see?" Kimi asked.

"Uh sure, we can go see your picture real fast," said Masaomi.

"Big Sister helped me hang it up on the refrigerator so you could see it," Kimi said taking both her hands and pulling them towards the kitchen. Both Masaomi and Ukyo smiled as they let Kimi pull them into the kitchen.

As they came in Ukyo happened to glance over towards the sink with all of the dirty dishes. "I see the house didn't get done huh?" he said out loud.

"Sorry, I was trying to get started on them when that social worker showed up," Ema said running into the kitchen.

Tsubaki came up behind her and gently grabbed her arm. "No it's our fault we promised and we didn't," he said.

"Why didn't you two get it done?" asked Ukyo.

"We got a call for an important audition. We figured we'd make it back in time before Ema and the others got home," Azusa explained, "Sorry."

"Hmm, well no matter," said Ukoy, "You can get it done now."

"Right," said Azusa. He pulled his brother over to the sink.

"Ukyo, come and look at my picture!" Kimi said standing on the fridge with Masaomi.

"Right," said Ukyo as he walked over to the fridge where he could see the picture of him, Kimi and Masaomi all together.

"I drew it so that maybe you'd make up and come home," said Kimi.

"Well it worked Kimi, good job," Masaomi said patting her head. Kimi giggled.

"Now that you're back that means that mean scary lady won't be able to come and take me right?" she said.

"No Kimi, she's not taking you away," Masaomi assured his sister. Just then his phone started to go off. "Hang on a sec Kimi," he said as he answered his phone, "Hello?"

"Masa!" came Miwa's voice over the phone.

"Mom?" said Masaomi surprised at hearing his mother's voice.

"I'm sorry I was so late getting a chance to call you, "said Miwa, "But what's this I hear about someone trying to take Kimi away?!"

"Well ti's just that, apparently there was a woman here today threatening to take Kimi away if not for some quick thinking of Futo," Masaomi.

"Oh my gosh," Miwa moaned, "Oh my gosh, what happened exactly?"

Masaomi looked over at Ukyo who was watching him along with Kimi. "Well Mother, to tell the truth, Ukyo got into a fight in a public face and in the process, I accidentally hit Kimi in the face."

"You what?!" shouted Miwa. She probably shouted so loudly they could have heard her from California itself. "Masa!"

"It as an accident Mom I can assure you. I didn't mean to and she wasn't too badly hurt," Masaomi tried to console his mother.

"Still though!" Miwa said as she gave off a heavy sigh, "Oh god, this is all my fault. I should have fought more to stay at home after we brought Kimi home!"

"Mom it was something unavoidable," Masaomi tried to insist.

"So you say," said Miwa.

"Honey, let me talk to him," Rintaro's voice suddenly came on the other end. "Masaomi, is everything okay now?"

"Yes, for now, Ukyo and I are going to stay home tomorrow no matter what and confront this so called woman who's claiming she's going to come get us," Masaomi said to his stepfather.

"When is she going to be at the house?" Rintaro asked.

"Don't worry about that," said Masaomi, "It'll really early over there were you're at."

"That isn't stopping us now," Miwa made sure to mention loudly.

"Well to be honest I don't know when she's planning on coming by. We didn't know she was coming by today," Masaomi explained.

"I see, well can we at least count on you to call when she does come?" asked Rintaro.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Masaomi.

"Yes no matter what time it is over here, call us, because I want to talk to this woman!" Miwa insisted.

"Alright Mom alright," Masaomi agreed.

"Calm down," Rintaro said.

"Okay, okay," Miwa said. Masaomi could hear her taking a few deep breaths, "Masaomi, can I talk to Kimi real fast as well?"

"Yes, sure, she's right here," said Masamoi. He turned and handed Kimi the phone, "It's for you Kimi, it's your mom."

"Mommy?" Kimi said in surprise. She hand't heard much fro the woman or her father since they day they had to leave her with her brothers. She held the phone up to her ear, "Hello?"

"Hi honey, how's my pretty girl?" Miwa asked.

"I'm fine," said Kimi.

"Are your brothers treating you okay?" Miwa asked.

"Yeah, Masa hit me on accident but he's sorry," said Kimi. Miwa and Rintaro both giggled at that comment.

"That's nice sweetie," said Miwa, "We're sorry we had to leave you like we did. We still love you you know?"

"Yes Mommy," said Kimi, "Are you coming home soon?"

"We're going to try real soon Kimi," said Rintaro, "And when we do, we are going to spend so much time with you! We'll take you to a bunch of fun places, we'll have a great time together!"

"That sounds great Daddy," Kimi said somewhat timidly, "Does this mean you're going to stop the bad lady?"

"You bet we are, along with anyone else who's been bad to you!" said Miwa.

"Like Aiji and his daddy?" asked Kimi.

"Who honey?" asked Rintaro.

"I'll explain to you later," said Masaomi was able to say over the phone.

"You better," said his mother.

"Whatever is wrong Kimi we'll try and help fix it we promise," Rintaro assured the little girl.

"Thank you Daddy," said Kimi.

"Sure, of course sweetheart," said Rintaro, "In the meantime, you just go ahead and rely on your brothers, because you know they'll help protect you too right?"

"Yeah, they're nice!" said Kimi looking up at Masaomi as she said that. She could hear her parents giggling again. She could also hear one of them yawing.

"Daddy are you sleepy?" she asked.

"A little honey, me and your mommy," said Rintaro.

"Do you need to go sleep?" Kimi asked.

"We will honey, after we talk to your big brother again," said Miwa,"Can you give the phone back to him?"

"Sure Mommy," said Kimi.

"Bye-bye Kimi, we promise everything's going to be just fine," Miwa said right as Kimi prepared to give Masaomi back the phone.

"Thank you Mommy," Kimi said before handing the phone back to Masaomi.

Masaomi smiled at Kimi as he took his phone back, "Hello?"

"Masa, Rintaro and I are going to come home as soon as possible but in the meantime I do want you to call us tomorrow if this lady shows up again no matter what. Even if we don't answer at first keep trying alright? I want to at least talk to her personally," Miwa insisted.

"Yes Mom, I will make sure someone calls you no matter what," said Masaomi.

"In the meantime, you and Ukyo better get over your little spat and make sure you don't hurt my baby again got it?!" Miwa snapped.

"We won't Mom I promise. We had already worked out our differences before this all started," said Masaomi said.

"You better have, because rest assured you and Ukyo are never too old for me to throw you over my knee and spank your bottoms until they're red got it?" Miwa threatened.

"I have no doubt Mother," said Masaomi.

"Good boy," said Miwa, "Bye now, give my love to all the others, especially Wataru."

"Sure Mom, bye now," Masaomi said hanging up the phone.

"Are Mommy and Daddy really going to help make the lady go away and maybe help with Aiji?" Kimi asked once he had hung up.

"They're going to help as much as they can," Masaomi assured her, "In the meantime we're'e also going to protect you okay?"

"Okay," said Kimi. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted u from her shoulders all of a sudden. "Would it be okay if Wataru and I go ahead and play now?"

"Sure of course you can, you should," Masaomi said.

"Come on Wataru, let's go have the tea party with Juli!" Kimi said to her big brother.

"Yeah tea party!" Wataru cheered, "Let's go!" The two small kids ran off.

"Well looks like things are starting to be a little better at least," said Ukyo, "Are Mom and Rintaro going to come home soon?"

"I don't know, but that doesn't mean they can't help from where they're at," said Masaomi, "No matter where Mom is, she can make a huge amount of difference. At the very least I don't think the so called social worker's going to be a problem anymore."

* * *

**Author's Note: hi everyone, sorry for the brief pause in updating Sister. I recently got 600 likes as an author and to celebrate and say thank you, I've been writing six one shot thank you stories. But now that they're all done, I'm back and ready to start updating more regularly on this story. Sorry again for the delay**

**Sincerely, **

**Tracey4t**


	46. Chapter 46

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi and Wataru both giggled as they both watched Juli take a drink from Kimi's tea cup.

"He is cute when he drink from them isn't he?" Kimi said. She really was feeling better and safer after Masaomi and Ukyo came home and having her parents call her to make sure she knew they weren't going to let the mean scary lady take her away. Plus maybe her mommy and daddy could help with the mean boy Aiji and his daddy.

"So, are you safe for now Little Chi?" Juli asked while Wataru was slightly distracted taking a sip of tea himself.

"I think so, thank to Mommy Daddy Masa and Kyo," said Kimi. "I think they're going to protect me."

"Good, I'd hate to have to do all the work myself. If that woman does come here again, I'm going to make sure she knows I'm your shining knight!" Juli declared.

"I don't know Juli, no offence or anything but your way of protecting is usually kind of dangerous in and of itself," said Kimi.

"Hmm?" said Juli, "You're underestimating me Little Chi."

* * *

"So, as a means to say sorry for not being here when you need us most, I'm going to make something extra special for dinner tonight," Ukyo said happily, "I'm going to head to the grocery store."

"Would you like me to come with you?" Ema asked.

"Sure, if you want," said Ukyo. Then he got an idea. "On fact why don't' you ask Kimi and even Wataru if they want to come. They might like it too."

"Sure," said Ema as she hurried up the stairs.

"Oh, why didn't you ask us if we want to go?" Tsubaki asked.

"You still have dishes to do, get going," said Masaomi.

"But we only didn't do it because we were so traumatized over you two leaving," Tsubkai whined.

"Get back here," Azusa said pulling him back to kitchen.

Masamoi shook his head with a smirk only to suddenly get interrupted by the feeling of his phone going off. "Hello?" he asked.

"Hello, am I speaking to Mr. Masaomi Asahina, the oldest brother of Kimi and Wataru Asahina?" a calm but powerful female voice asked on the other end.

"Uh yes, and who should I say is calling?" Masaomi asked.

"This is Ms. Tannin, I'm the children's princible. I was calling to see if there's a good time for me and Kimi's teacher Miss Hogo to come to your home for an inspection. I don't know if one of your other brothers mentioned something to you about that."

"Yes I was informed about that," said Masaomi, "Um if you really insist on it, you can try coming over tomorrow. I can assure you that both me and and my next closest brother Ukyo will be here at any time."

Very well, I'll be there tomorrow at 4 pm right after school is let out," said Tannin.

"Sure, that's fine," said Masami, "Um just out of curiosity, were you at all involved with the social worker that was here today threatening to take Kimi away?"

"I beg your pardon?" Ms. Tannin asked.

"My brothers and sister told me that some sort of woman had showed up at my home unannounced and was on the verge of taking Kimi away," Masaomi told her.

"Well I can assure that I had nothing to do with that," Ms. Tannin insisted. "I know a few mothers were in my office today saying I should try doing such a thing but I didn't want to rush into anything like that just that."

"That's what I assumed," said Masaomi.

"Would you happen to know this woman's name?" asked Ms. Tannin, "Perhaps I can call up social services myself and tell them that if they don't have to do something so drastic at the moment."

"Oh sure, I'll see if I can get the name from my siblings," said Masaomi. He looked around and realized all of the ones who had been home when the lady had stopped by were gone.

* * *

"Kimi, Wataru, how's everything going?" Ema asked as she came into Kimi's room.

"We're fine," said Kimi, "So's Juli." She pointed to the squirrel who was taking drink out of a cup again.

Ema actually giggled. She remembered when she and Juli used to have tea parties like that. "Oh by the way Kimi, Wataru, would you two like to come with the two of us to the grocery store? He says he's going make something really nice and special for dinner tonight."

"Oh I want to go help! I want to help out with Ukyo now that he's home!" Kimi insisted.

"Uh well" Wataru said looking at the tea part as he kept drinking, "I want to stay here with Juli and play. Uh plus I kind of have homework to do."

"You better get started on that," Ema encouraged as she and Kimi headed out.

"Well, Kimi and I are ready to go," Ema said when she and Kimi came back downstairs.

"Good, let's get going," said Ukyo, "Just don't forget your coat Kimi."

"I won't," said Kimi giggling as she ran to the front door.

"Ema, wait a minute," Masamoi called out.

"Uh yes?" Ema replied.

"Did you happen to get the name of the social worker that came to the house today?" Masaomi asked.

""Uh I think the name was Yakkai," said Ema.

"Thank you," Masaomi said as he stared to dial up his phone again.

Ema shrugged her shoulders and headed out after her brother and sister.

* * *

As Ukyo, Ema and Kimi drove off, they didn't notice Natsume pulling up behind her. He bolted into the house fast and came to the living room in time to hear Masamoi talking on the phone.

"...yes Yakki," he said, "Yes thank you, thank you. I look forward to seeing your tomorrow Madam, thank you."

Natsume waited until his brother was off the phone before he cleared his throat. Masaomi twirled around. "Oh Natsume, what brings you by?" he asked.

"Did you happen to have a visit from someone from social services?" Natsume asked.

"Uh yes, how did you know?" Masaomi asked.

"I happened to overhear Ichigi talking to his wife about calling them to have someone visit you," Natsume explained.

"Ichigi?" Masamo moaned, "That suddenly makes a lot of sense. Well, no need to worry too much. Apparently Futo was able to get rd of her for today, and Ukyo and I are going to stay here home to meet with her should she show up. Plus Mom called today...,"

"Mom called?" Natsume asked.

"I had called her to let her know what was going on, so she called out of concern. She's said that she wants us to call her if she shows up again so she can talk to the woman personally," said Masaomi.

"Oh I see, good thinking," said Natasume.

"But thanks for coming to warn us," said Masaomi, "Why didn't you just call though?"

"I guess I was worried something may have happened to Kimi and subconsciously wanted to come check on her in person," said Natasume.

"You mean to tell me you were so worried about sweet little Kimi that you came to see her in person?" Tsubakie said suddenly appearing behind him and putting his arm around her, " I hope you would care this much about me should I ever be in trouble."

"You can probably handle yourself a lot better than Kimi could," said Natsume.

" In the meantime, since you're here do you want to stay for dinner?" Azus asked coming up behind Tsubaki.

"No I don't think so," said Natsume.

"No stay," Tsubaki said grabbing his arm. "Kyo's already promised us a special dinner. And besides you can't leave without checking on the damsel in distress like you wanted to so badly."

"Uh, I guess," Natsume finally relented.

* * *

"Well this went well," said Ukyo once he and the girls arrivd home. Each had their arms full with bags of food, "Are you two excited for dinner?"

"Yeah!" Kimi cheered.

"You better throw in another one on the grill, we got an extra dinner guest," Tsubakei called out as he walked out.

"Huh?" Ema asked. Tsubakie pointed out past towards the deck where Natsume stood taking a smoke.

"What's Natsume doing here?" Ukyo asked.

"He came by to share some info on the scary lady that dare thought she could steal Kimi away," Tsubkie explained.

"Did he really come to see me?" Kimi asked.

"Yeah, why don't you go see him yourself?" Tsubaki suggested as he carefully took Kimi's bag away from her, "Don't worry, I'll help with this."

"Okay," Kimi said moving out to the deck herself where Natusme still stood smoking, "Um Natsume?" she said.

Natsume turned at the sound of his name. "Oh hello Kimi. Good to see you're doing well."

"Did you come to see me?" Kimi asked.

"Yes actually," Natusme repleid as he put out his cigerette. He walked over to Kimi and knelt down in from of her, "I was worried about you."

"Why?" asked Kimi.

"Why, because you're still my little sister and I don't want you to leave," said Natsume, "What do you think?"

"But how did you know?" Kimi asked.

"I have my ways," said Natusme tapping her nose.

"You're so smart Natsuem!" said Kimi, "I hope I can be as smart as you are someday."

"Well I think you're well on your way. You're already smarter than some of our brothers," said Natusme.

"Oh thanks a lot," Subaru said suddenly walked up to the deck holding his basket ball.

"I didn't mean you," said Natusme as he stood up, "Even if you do have your moments."

"Hmm," Subaru mutterd.

"Don't fight , you said you wouldn't do that so much anymore!" Kimi pointed out.

"You're right Kimi, sorry," said Natsume.

"Yeah, sorry Kimi," Subaru also apologized, "What are you doing here Natsume?"

"I heard about the incident with Kimi and wanted to make sure she was okay in person. She is my little sister after all," said Natsume

"Hmm," Subaru, "Well you didn't have to worry too much. I wasn't going to let anything happen to her, even if I hadn't been the oldest brother there at the time." He walked up onto the deck and patted Kimi's head. "I'm her older brother too don't forget."

"You are brave Subaru," Kimi said hugging his leg. Subaru turned red, until he happened to notice Natsume was looking like he was slightly jealous that Kimi was hugging him. Subaru patted her head. "It's not uncommon for big brothers to be extra brave when a little sister in a danger."

"Like what Wataru does!" Kimi said giggling.

"Maybe not that extreme," said Natusme.

"Then I'm always going to be safe since I have so many big brothers?" Kimi asked.

"Of course," Subaru said.

"Then why did I feel scared when that lady was here?" Kimi asked.

"It's normal to feel scared, any normal person can feel scared," Natsume assured her. "You just have to learn how to conquer your fear is all."

"how do I do that?" Kimi asked.

"You grow and you learn," Natsuem told her, "Didn't you just learn that how all real brothers protect their sisters? That's something that can help you contorl your fear a little correct?" Kimi nodded.

"I still feel scare though," she admitted.

"That's fine we're all a little scared," said Subaru, "That doesn't mean we're not going to protect you."

Kimi blushed, "Thank you," she said to her two brothers present, though in her heart she was saying it to her all of her brothers since she knew Subaru was right, that they would protect her no matter what.


	47. Chapter 47

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

When Kimi sat down to the dinner table, she made sure ot sit in between Masaomi and Ukyo.

"I hope you all like the dinner I made. If not I promise to make another one to make up for everything that happened over the past two days," said Ukyo.

"Oh no, this is just fine," Ema insisted.

"Yeah!" said Kimi. Kimi smiled brightly at her two big brothers with her big bright eyes. "I'm really happy you're both back. I'm not mad that you got into a fight," she assured her two brothers happily, "Or that you hit me."

"Your eye's looking a lot better already at least," Masaomi commented as he looked her eye over.

"But you know it wasn't really fare that Masa hit you and you didn't get a hit back," Tsubaki suddenly spoke up.

"Yeah, a revenge slap," said Kaname, "You want to try it now?"

"Hit Masaomi?" Kimi asked.

"I thought you Buddhist monks were supposed to be peaceful," said Natsumi.

"Well one can argue that the universe needs to balance itself out," said Kaname.

"It's okay Kimi. If you want to take a slap at me go ahead," Masaomi said with a smile.

"You sure?" Kimi asked.

"Yeah smack as hard as you want," Masaomi encouraged, hitting himself slightly. Kimi thought about it for a moment and finally reached over and hit him in his face ever so slightly in one of Masaomi's eyes."Ah!" Masaomi pretended to groan in pain. "That hurt, I think I deserved that!"

"Yeah you did," Yusuke said.

"Do you want to give me a slap too Kimi?" Ukyo asked, "I think I deserve one as well."

"But you didn't hit me," Kimi said.

"No, but in a way I did help it make it happen," said Ukyo.

"Do it Kimi, knock him good!" Tsubaki encouraged.

"Yes encourage violence with a little girl," Natsume muttered.

"Hmm," Kimi pondered for a while before she finally reached over and smacked Ukyo in the cheek.

"Mmm," Ukyo moaned rubbing his face with a smile. "Thanks Kimi, now I feel better."

"I didn't hit you too hard did I?" Kimi asked looking in between her two brothers.

"Don't worry Kimi, that doesn't matter," Masaomi assured her.

"It like we said, we deserve it," Ukyo added as he patted her hair. Kimi giggled with happiness.

* * *

That night when Kimi got ready for bed, both Masaomi and Ukyo helped tucked her in.

"Good night Kimi," Masaomi said as he helped wrapped Kimi up in her covers.

"Hope you have sweet dreams," said Ukyo.

"Thank you, I'm really happy you're back now," Kimi said sleepily.

"It is good to be home," said Masaomi, "We'll see you in the morning okay?"

"Okay good night," said Kimi said as she shut her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Both Masaomi and Ukyo quietly tiptoed out of her room.

"I do admit I miss moments like that," Masaomi said, "I'm really glad to be home now because of that."

"Yeah, in a way I miss taking care of this giant brute of a family," Ukyo said with a chuckle. Then he gave off a little sigh. "So about tomorrow...,"

"I think the two of us should both take Kimi and Wataru to school and try seeing if we can talk to Miss Hogo then. Afterwards I'm going to try and take the day off and do my best to make sure this place is in tip top shape if that social worker shows up again," Masaomi said as if he had already knew right off the bat was he was planning.

"Then I'm going to take the day off and do the same to help you. Plus I'm going to get every legal paper work we have on Mom and Rintaro's adoption of Kimi prepared as well," Ukyo said.

"Good, that's a good idea," said Masaomi.

"What's a good idea?" Hikaru asked suddenly appearing in the front of them.

"When did you get home?" Masaomi asked.

"I heard something through the grape vine that someone's trying to take away our precious Princess Kimi," said Hikaru, "Naturally my first instinct was come and see if there was anything I could do to help."

"Well that just so happens to be what we were discussing. We're both going to stay home tomorrow and prepare the house and get all the legal paperwork I need to back us up on not letting that woman take Kimi away," Ukyo explained.

"Ah I see, well, then I should make sure that I too am here to deal with this said woman. Haven't met a woman yet I haven't been able to handle," said Hikaru with a smirk. "Of course from what I've heard already from a bunch o four other brothers when I got home, a lot of the others are planning on the doing that same thing. I can only imagine what a sight that will be for such a woman."

"Yeah, she's in for a big surprise tomorrow," said Masaomi, "I'm going to help put Wataru to bed as well."

* * *

The next morning, as both brothers had promised, both older brothers drove both Kimi and Wataru to school.

"Are you two gong to let Little sister's teacher hit you as well over your stupid fight? She seemed pretty mad at you about it too," Wataru asked as they drove.

Both Masaomi and Ukyo actually smiled at Wataru's question.

"If she wants to she can," said Masaomi.

"She's earned a slap too," said Ukyo.

"Hopefully she won't be able to hit us as hard as Kimi though," said Masaomi.

When the family arrived at the school and both older brothers got out of the car, nearly all the other parents there stopped what they were doing and looked towards them, including Mrs. Ichigi dropping off her son. Masaomi ignored them and helped their younger siblings out of the car.

The minute Kimi was out of the car she looked around and saw the all the parents and some of the teachers looking towards her and her brothers. She reached up and grabbed her Masaomi's hand, squeezing it. "Why is everyone looking at us?" she whispered.

"Obviously there's something they're all seeing that we're not seeing. It must be invisible to us or something," said Masaomi said like it was nothing as he started to lead Kimi towards her classroom, followed by closely by Ukyo and Wataru, all doing their best to ignore all of the eyes watching them. They four had just about reached the school when Mrs. Ichigi came up in front of Masaomi looking serious.

"Excuse me but why is she still with you?" she asked sternly pointing her finger exactly in Kimi's face. She barley missed poking Kimi in the eye.

"What do you mean exactly?" Masaomi asked calmly.

"I mean why is she still here with you," Mrs. Ichigi asked, "and you!" she added pointing at Ukyo standing behind his brother.

"Well she is out little sister," said Ukyo.

"Yes but I was sure that that social lady I called personally was going to remove her from your custody yesterday! I told her how dangerous it was keeping her with you!" said Mrs. Ichigi once again pointing her finger in Kimi's face. Kimi had to move her face to keep her from poking her eye.

"So you were the one," Ms. Tannin said suddenly coming up behind Mrs. Ichigi looking mad, "Mrs. Ichigi I thought I made myself perfectly clear that I was going to handle it and that I didn't feel the need to contact social services over such a matter until after I and the girl's teacher inspected the home ourselves!"

"Well pardon me for feeling the need to take matter into my own hands!" said Mrs. Ichigi, "My husband thought it was a good idea too!"

"Mrs. Ichigi, this is not something that concern you personally. You don't know this family all that well, your son isn't in either child's class, and you are not in a position of authority in anyway. You had no right to make such a call! Please rest assured that I do not appreciate you doing such a thing!" Mrs. Ichigi looked a little bit shocked at the principal words. "now then, why don't you allow these men to take their little sister to her class and you take your son to his class and just leave each other alone for now!" Ms. Tannin said in still serious tone.

"Very well," said Mrs. Ichigi. She headed back to her son and all but yanked at his arm as she dragged him to the school, clearly mad.

"I apologize about that Mr. Asahina," said Ms. Tannin once the woman was gone, "I can assure you that it won't happen again on my watch. I'm was actually thinking that possibly I should call off the whole inspection all together."

"Well it couldn't hurt for you to, to see if you cane give us a good review and more of a case against the social worker," said Ukyo.

"That is what was I thinking. I was actually hoping to meet the woman in person. From what I've head, she's had a few marks on her own record," said Ms. Tannin.

"Well, we look forward to meeting you there," said Masaomi, "now we really should get Kimi to class."

"Of course, don't let me keep you. Wataru, don't you have to get to class as well?" Ms. Tannin asked the boy.

"Yep I'm going," Wataru said as he ran off, waving to his brothers and sister as he did so.

"Come on Kimi let's get you to class," said Masaomi as he and Ukyo led her to her class.

"Oh Mr. Asahina, one more thing," Ms. Tannin called out.

"Yes?" asked Masaomi.

"Is your brother the Buddhist Monk going to be there?" Ms. Tannin asked sheepishly. Both Ukyo and Masaomi looked to each other in slight confusion.

"Well I know a lot of our brothers want to be home in case that social worker shows up," said Ukyo finally.

"Oh, alright then" Ms. Tannin said. The three could see her cheeks turning slightly red as she hurried off.

"I wonder what that was all about?" asked Ukyo.

"One can only wonder," said Masaomi wiht a smirk. He slightly remembered the conversaton he had one day when Kaname had taken Kimi and Wataru to school.

* * *

Masaomi and Ukyo slowly opened the door to Kimi's classroom and walked in, each holding one of Kimi's hands. As they walked in they saw Miss Hogo preparing her classroom for the day. She looked up at ht esound of her door opening and a look of unease came over her face

"Hello Mr. Asahina and Uky," she stopped and gulped, " Mr. Asahina. It would appear as though you two have worked thigns out."

"Yes we have," said Masaomi calmly, "We've come to actually officially apologize over our actions that day at the museum. Both he and Ukyo bowed their heads in shame.

"We were completely wrong in our actions that day," said Ukyo.

"But now they' don't hate each other anymore and they both said sorry to each other about the fight," Kimi spoke up "And they even let me hit them myself."

Miss Hogo actually giggled at Kimi's comment. "I hope you hit him good," she said.

"I did and they said that if you want you can hit them too," said Kimi.

Miss Hogo chuckled again. "That's not necessary" she insisted. She looked back up at the men. "Did Ms. Tannin tel you we're coming to your home after school today for an inspection?"

"Yes we know and we're ready for you," said Masaomi.

"Good," said Miss Hogo. She slightly shifted her eyes more towards Ukyo ever so slightly before she spoke again, "I'm hoping that the three of us can have a private conversation once the inspection is over," she said softly.

"Of course," said both brothers.

"Good, if you want I can even arrange to bring Wataru and Kimi home along with the other two high school siblings," Miss Hogo offered.

"Sure, if you don't mind, I'll leave them a message and let them know to just wait here at the school when they come to get Kimi and Wataru," said Masoami.

"Alright," said Miss Hog, "See you tonight."

"See you tonight," said Ukyo and Masaomi as they turn to leave.

"Bye Ukyo, bye Masaomi," said Kimi.

"Bye Kimi," both her brothers said waving to her and leaving.

"Well, it's good to know that your brothers are back in your life Kimi," said Miss Hogo.

"I missed them. I know they did something bad but I still love them!" said Kimi, "I know they'll protect me no matter what!"

"That is true, that is what a good big brother does," said Miss Hogo.

* * *

Ms. Yakkai frowned as she pulled up to the Sunrise residents. "No one's gong to stop me this time! I am taking this girl away even if I have to technically kidnap her!" she grumbled to herself as she walked up to the door and rang the bell.

"Yes?" said the voice on the other side.

"This is Ms. Yakkai from Social services! I demand you let me in right now!" the omwna orderd.

"Oh right of course," said the voice. The woman heard a buzz and pushed door opened. She marched down the hallway mad when she saw a young man standing at the end of the hallway. He smiled at her calmly.

"Hello, I'm Masaomi Asahina welcome to my home," he said.

"Let's just skip the formalities and get to business please," said the woman putting her hand up, "I'm here to do discuss the matter of Kimi Asahina."

"Of course, my brothers and I are eagerly wanting to speak with you about that as well," said Masaomi as he moved aside reveling nearly all of his other brothers sitting o the couch, each wearing either a smirk or a serious look on their faces. Ms. Yakki was suddenly looking a lot less confident.


	48. Chapter 48

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

"Kimi, are you okay?" her friend Mura asked during lunch that day.

"Yeah, my brothers came back, so I'm happy," said Kimi.

"But my mommy told me someone was going to take you away from your home yesterday," said another friend, Ohan.

Kimi looked up straight at her. "Someone tried to yesterday, but my brothers made her go away until my older brothers came home. They say they'll talk to the person and convince her to let me stay with them, " she said.

"But that one boy, Aiji's mommy said you were in danger being with your brothers," said Jaja.

"No I'm not!" Kimi shouted banging her first on the table. It made her friends jump a little and even caught the attention of a few other students sitting nearby.

"But didn't one of them hit you?" Ohan asked.

"It was an accident! He didn't mean it. Brothers and sisters sometimes hit each other. They even let me hit them to make up for it," Kimi said.

"I sometimes hit my brother when he deserves it," another friend Harumi. She looked up towards the ceiling and smirked at the idea.

"Well I'm glad you didn't get taken away Kimi. I'd miss you, we all would," said Mura. The other four friends nodded.

"Are they still going to try and take you away Kimi?" Jaja asked.

"It sounded like the scary lady that tried yesterday may try again, but I think my brothers are going to keep her from doing it. Miss Hogo and Ms. Tannin are supposed to come inspect the house today," said Kimi.

"Do you think they'll try to take you away?" Mura asked.

"I hope they don't," said Kimi. She looked over at her teacher who was talking to another teacher. She happened to glance over to Kimi who gave Kimi a gentle smile. "I'm not as scared of her as I am of that other lady."

* * *

For the rest of the day, Kimi did her best to just go along with everything happening in class. When the end of the day came, she stayed in the classroom instead of hurrying out like the other children. She noticed Mura look back at her with worry before hurrying on her way.

"Kimi," Miss Hogo said walking over to her, "are you ready to go?" Kimi nodded her head timidly. "Okay, let's go find your brother and then we'll go wait for your other brother and sister." Kimi squeezed the straps of her backpack as she and Miss Hogo headed out. When they came out they both immediately saw Wataru waiting for them.

"Hello Wataru, how are you?" Miss Hogo asked.

"I'm good," said Wataru calmly smiling.

"Good, I'm going to go get my car. Can I count on you to wait here for your other siblings?" said Miss Hogo. Both little kids nodded their heads.

" Do you think that scary lady is going to come back today?" Kimi asked timidly.

"Don't worry, Masa and Kyo are home now. They'll make her go away for good," said Wataru.

Kimi nodded her head. Both stared off, looking for Yusuke and Ema to arrive. Suddenly Kimi felt something upside her head. She turned around to see Aiji behind her laughing his head off.

"I thought you would be gone, but maybe I'll have to wait until tomorrow," he taunted.

Kimi rubbed her head and looked away to try and ignore him. However she was once again hit upside the head by Aiji who laughed at his own stupidity. "When are you going to leave? Because I got to admit, it's kind of fun getting to mess with you day after day. But my mom says she's helping to put you in a better place Somewhere far away, maybe in Antarctica!" he kept taunting.

Kimi moved over to her brother and held his hand. Wataru looked surprised until he realized Aiji was still standing nearby and he squeezed her hand back. "Don't worry, Yusuek and Big sister will be here soon. So will Miss Hogo," he said.

Kimi nodded only to once again be hit upside the head by Aiji laughing.

"Stop that!" Wataru tried to order, making an effort to put himself in front of Kimi.

"I can do what I want! My daddy even said so! She's not going to be here much longer anyway!" said Aiji, "No one wants her. My daddy and mommy told me your fake mommy and daddy took you in as a stunt to make them look good!"

"No!" said Wataru.

"Yes they did, that's probably the only reason they had you too dumb boy," Aiji taunted, "To look good!"

At that Kimi came running around from behind Wataru and tackled Aiji to the ground. Aiji looked up at her in surprise that Kimi had managed to knock him over like that. She surprised him even more by punching him on the nose. It wasn't too hard but Aiji looked astonished by the action.

"You're mean, you're just so mean! I wished you'd go away and never come back!" she shouted as she hit his nose again, "You're so mean! Go away, just go away forever!"

"Okay enough of that," Yusuke suddenly said from behind as Kimi felt someone lifting her up. Kii turned her head to see her tow older siblings behind her, Yusuke looking serious while Ema looked upset. Before either could say anything, they were distracted by Aiji crying.

"I'm telling!" he threatened, "I'm telling my mommy and daddy!"

"Yeah go right ahead punk," Yusuke said. At that Aiji got up and ran away. Kimi could actually hear Yusuke start to laugh. "Bet that dumb kid didn't expect you to hit like that huh?"

"He's mean," Kimi said.

"Yeah we know," Yusuke said putting her down, "Are you okay though?"

"Yeah," said Kimi, "he's so mean."

"Yes Kimi, but you shouldn't have hit him," said Ema taking her hand.

"Nah, let's be honest, he's been asking for it for a while. Kimi deserved a chance to whop his butt for a while," said Yusuke. Just then a familiar car pulled up.

"Oh good you're here," said Miss Hogo getting out "Is everything okay? I could have sworn I just saw Aiji running off crying."

"Yeah everything's fine," Yusuke said quickly as he took Kimi's other hand and led her to the car.

"But Yusuke," Kimi whispered.

Yusuke put a finger to his lips and shook his head. "Not now," he whispered back as he helped Kimi into a the car.

"Oh good you collected the children," Ms. Tannin said coming up towards Miss Hogo's car.

"Yes, I'll see you at the house," said Miss Hoog, "Oh by the way, you didn't happen to see Aiji Ichigi around did you? I thought I saw him earlier and he looked upset."

Ms. Tannin looked towards Kimi and Yusuke with a smirk. "No I don't recall seeing that child at all recently," she said. She actually winked at the little girl before heading to her car. Kimi wasn't sure how to react to the principal's actions.

* * *

Ms. Yakki actually gulped as she looked around at the different men all looking at her. "So," she managed to squeak out, "This must all be the bulk of Kimi's older brothers I take it?"

"Yes," said Masaomi, "These are most of my brothers. Would you like to learn all their names?"

"No, that's not necessary," said Ms. Yakki, "I'll just ask if I have a question for each one individually." She gulped again.

"Well then should we get to the matter at hand? You were saying yesterday that you feel our sister Kimi shouldn't be left in our custody anymore?" Masaomi asked.

"Ah yes, that's right," said Ms. Yakki. She noticed some of the brothers' serious faces got a whole lot scarier while the ones who were smirking looked even more cocky. "I have a report of my findings so far in regards to my visit yesterday plus a report that started this whole thing. The one of Kimi being abused by her big bothers."

"May I seem them please?" Ukyo said walking up to her other side.

"Um I don't think," Ms. Yakki started to say holding her briefcase close to her.

"Ma'am please, I am a lawyer and know a thing or two about legal procedures such as this," said Ukyo outstretching his hand, "I just want to take a quick look."

"Well," Miss Yakki said as she back away slowly. She jumped a little when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Kaname standing next to her.

"You know, it might anger the gods if you don't let him take a look," he said calmly with a smirk.

"Huh?" Ms. Yakki said only to suddenly feel her briefcase be taken from her and saw Ukyo looking through it. "Hey you can't do that!"

"We do have a right to know what we're up against don't you agree?" Ukyo said as he thumbed through several different files.

"In the meantime would you like to have another look through our home?" Masaomi asked, "We made sure to work extra hard to make sure it's clean for your inspection."

"Of course that only really required washing the dishes," said Azusa.

"Come on, you should come along with us," said Tsubaki as he and Azusa both got up and started to lead the woman away towards the kitchen that now indeed looked much cleaner than before.

"I must apologize about the mess you must have seen yesterday," Azusa started to say, "You see the thing was my brother and I were supposed to do it and we got a surprise called for an audition for a new anime. We figured that wed be back in time to get it done and we certainly weren't expecting company."

"Right," said Ms. Yakki.

"What else did you look at yesterday that you need to look at again?" Azusa asked.

"Uh well um," the woman sputtered.

"What, surly you did in fact look at more of the house before you started to think that Kimi shouldn't be here right?" Tsubaki asked in an almost taunting tone.

"Uh well um," Ms. Yakki kept trying to find the right words to say.

Tsubaki smirked while Azusa looked annoyed.

"I hope that your silence isn't from you being ashamed to be put on the spot over not inspecting more of the house," he said.

"What no, I just," Ms. Yakki stared to insist.

"Ms. Yakki, may we have a word?" Ukyo said as he and Masaomi walked into the kitchen as well, followed by their other brothers. "There's something that bothers us about this reports. It says you did a thorough check of the house but from what I was told by my brothers and sisters was that you didn't expect any thing aside from the kitchen. Who's telling the truth?"

"Keep in mind my dear lady, lying is a great sin," Kaname said.

"Well the kitchen was such a mess, it felt like it was the only thing I needed to see due to how messy it was," said Ms. Yakki.

"Was there more than just dirty dishes?" Masaomi asked.

"Well," Ms. Yakki.

"We did explain to her why they weren't done," Tsubaki made sure to mention, still smirking.

"So you didn't look at the rest of the house?" Ukyo said looking over the report. "I hate to be rude but that would mean the report is false wouldn't it?"

"Well I wouldn't go that far," said Ms. Yakki.

"Also this report says we beat up our sister," Ukyo interrupted looking at another report, "I'm not sure what all you were told but only one of us hit her and it was done by accident. Did the museum staff or our sister's teacher say that we were beating her up?"

"Well to be honest," Ms. Yakki again sputtered.

"Who did you talk to about this?" Hikaru asked looking over his brother's shoulder at the report, "There's just one name. A Mrs. Ichigi? Was she present at the attack?"

"No but her husbaand was," said Ms. Yakki.

"Did you talk to him?" asked Masaomi.

"No not personally, but his wife told me everything he said," said Ms. Yakki.

"But you didn't speak to him," Masaomi pointed out.

"It almost doesn't sound like you spoke to anyone that was there in person about the incident," said Kaname. All the brothers looked very confident in themselves.

"Hey I have been a social worker for many years! I like to think I know what I'm doing!" said Ms. Yakki.

"So do we, especially in matter that concern someone making a real threat to our family," said Masaomi. All the brothers nodded in agreement. Ms. Yakki could feel her knees buckling out of fear.


	49. Chapter 49

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

The car ride was rather tense and quite as Miss Hogo drove the Asahina kids home. They could see the principal's car in front of them easily as they drove.

"So just what exactly are you going to be looking for at our house?" Yusuke finally asked.

"Nothing special, just that the house looks like it's in good working order and Kimi's happy there," said Miss Hogo.

"I am happy there," said Kimi.

"Well, it should be easy to see that then huh?" said Miss Hogo with a smile.

"Who's car is that?" Ema asked right as they pulled up in front of the there already was a big black car practically blocking any other parking spot.

"You don't think it's the one mean lady's, do you?" Kimi asked.

"Well if it is her, she's in for a very interesting surprise," said Yusuke.

"Well I kind of hope it is her," said Miss Hogo, "I know Ms. Tannin was wanting to talk to the woman."

"Hmm?" said the principal as she got out of the car, "Is this a family car by chance? It's hard to park around here with it here."

"Uh no, it's not one of our cars," said Ema, "I think ti's the social worker's."

"Excellent!" Ms. Tannin said, "I wanted to talk to her personally!" She started marching straight to the front door at full speed.

"Wow, she seems really mad," said Wataru.

"Well she doesn't like it when other people try to question or override her authority as a elementary school principal," said Miss Hogo.

"Wow, she's really dedicated, huh?" said Ema as everyone followed after her.

* * *

As the group finally came into the house, and headed to the living room, they happened to find the social woman along standing in front of huge group of their brothers. The poor woman appeared to be overwhelmed with whatever it was that had happened between her and the different men.

"Excuse me" Ms. Tannin spoke up in a serious tone, getting everyone in the room's attention.

"Oh, looks who's here," said Kaname .

"Oh this guy," Ms. Tannin muttered. She cleared her throat and started off in her regular serious tone, "Am I correct in assuming that you, madam, are Ms. Yakki?"

"Uh yes I am," said Ms. Yakki.

"I am Ms. Tannin, and I just so happen to be the principal of the elementary school Kimi Asahina attends. How dare you override my authority by showing up at this house unannounced and threatening to take this little girl away from her home with just one visit! Just what were you thinking doing such a thing?"

"I was acting on a tip from a concern parent," said Ms. Yakki.

"And you didn't even once think to contact me or the girl's teacher about it?! Just what made you think you could act like this! It just so happened that myself and her teacher were planning on doing our on investigation and if it came down to it we would have called you. From what I heard, you didn't even let your supervisor know you were coming!"

"You didn't?" Ukyo said looking over Ms. Yakki's form, 'It says here you got his permission."

"That's not what he said when I called him," said Ms. Tannin, "Just who do you think you are sticking your nose into places where it doesn't belong!"

"I uh, I was doing my job and doing what I think was right. I've done things like that before and it usually resulted in a better situation for the child in question," said Ms. Yakki.

"Something tells me your supervisor would offer up a different opinion. Now then, Miss Hogo, the girl's teacher, and I are going to do our own inspection and you are no longer needed her. So could you please leave and let us do our job? I'm sure your supervisor would like to have a word or two with you!" Ms. Tannin ordered.

"Feisty isn't she?" Kaname mentioned looking amused.

"Well I don't see why shouldn't be allowed to stick around while you do your inspection in case we can share notes," said Ms. Yakki. Both Miss Hogo and Ms. Tannin looked towards Masaomi and Ukyo.

"If you don't have a problem with it, that's fine. She's already done an inspection but if she wants to go over everything with you that's fine. I doubt she'll find anything new," said said Masaomi.

"Very well, let's begin our inspection," said Ms.. Tannin as she adjusted her glasses as she headed out of the living room and headed to the kitchen.

"She certainly seems to know what she's doing," said Ukyo.

"Nothing wrong with that," said Kaname.

"What should we do now?" Wataru asked.

"You and Kimi should head off to and do your homework," Masaomi said patting his head.

"Ah, okay," Wataru muttered as he headed to the stairs.

"Yusuke, Ema you too, let's try to keep this whole situation as normal as possible," said Masaomi kindly.

"Are you sure?" asked Ema.

"Very much so. Besides, if your little pet really starts to catch on about what's going on, I don't like to think what he'd do," said Masaomi.

"True, Juli could very well could do something rash," said Ema hurrying up to her room.

"What should we do in the meantime?" Azusa asked.

"Nothing, but sit tight," said Masaomi, "Ms. Yakki's just going to be waisting more of her time. If you have anything you need to get done, feel free to go do it. I'm sure this situation is well under control."

The brothers all nodded and headed off in their own direction. Only Masaomi, Ukyo and Kaname remained in the living room. Ukyo studied the forms Ms. Yakki had with her some more.

"I wonder how much more of this is false or forged," he said.

Just then the three women came back into the living room.

"Nice kitchen," Miss Hogo complimented.

"Thank you, I take good car of it," said Ukyo.

"So what would you like to do next?" asked Masaomi.

"Next I think we should inspect Kimi's room," Ms. Tannin spoke up for all of them.

"Sure, we can show you where it is," said Masaoim as all three brothers led the three women upstairs.

* * *

Kimi sat down on the floor looking over the color cards she was supposed to look over to help learn her colors.

"Red, blue, green," she said out loud as she looked over the cards. It seemed easy enough for her.

"Little Chi, what are you doing?" Juli asked suddenly coming into the room.

"Juli, why are you here?" Kimi asked.

"Hmm, it's a duty of a knight to always look after their princesses," said Juli.

"Oh Juil, you're so sweet," said Kimi, "I'm learning about colors."

"Hmm well lucky for you, I'm an expert about such things," said Juli jumping onto her shoulder.

Kimi giggled, "thanks Juli, let me see if I can find your color," she said looking at her cards again.

"I'm glad you're happy Little Chi. I don't want to lose you in anyway like everyone keeps saying is going to happen," said Juli.

"Thanks Juli," Kimis said patting his head in a kind manner.

"Ah, what is that thing on her shoulder?" a shrill voice suddenly shouted. Both Kimi and Juli looked over towards her door to see her three oldest brothers and the three visiting women standing there.

"Uh-oh, he's here," Kaname muttered, "that might be a problem. Let's just hope Ms. Yakki doesn't antagonize the little guy."

"What is that thing?! Aren't you at all concern with it being on that beast little girl shoulder?!" shouted.

"Who's she calling a beast?" Juli asked getting mad.

"Juli, keep calm," Kimi said as she stroke Juli, "She's's the social worker who wants to take me away."

"What?!" Juli shouted getting even madder.

"What's wrong with that thing?! Look at it's fur!" said Ms.. Yakki.

"Calm down, he's our sister Ema's pet Juli. He's actually really harmless," said Masaomi.

"Harmelss, look at him! Look at what he's doing" said Ms. Yakki.

"He just get's that way when he's upset, that's all," said Masaomi.

"Maybe he just doens't like strangers or something," said Kaname.

"It's true, he is pretty much harmless. One time he came in Kimi's bag to school by accident and I let him stay all day. He was great with the children," said Miss Hogo.

"You let him come to school in the girl's bag?" Ms. Yakki asked looking towards the men.

"It's not that big of a deal. I've had kids bring a lot worse to school," said Miss Hogo.

"Taht is true," sad Ms. Tannin. She looked around the room in a serious tone, looking at it as if she was trying to find anything that might be out of place. "Well this room seems to be in well kept order and rather clean."

"Kimi's really good at keeping her room clean," said Ukyo, "Too bad some of her brothers can't follow her lead."

"Well I think it's cute," said Miss Hogo.

"Hmm, I don't know, I bet there's something wrong with this place," said Ms. Yakki also looking around, "Is that window child proof?!" she asked as she marched over to the window itself. Kimi barely had time to move out of her way as she passed her. She back up until she felt Masaomi's hands on her shoulders.

"I can assure you that this room is very child proof. We haven't had any problems over the years my brothers and I have lived here," Masaomi spoke up.

"Hmm," Ms. Yakki said as she fiddled around the window herself.

"Madam, I think it's safe to say that there is nothing wrong with the house or this family. Just let it go and let this family be," said Ms. Tannin.

"But, but, this is my job! My job to protect children!" Ms. Yakki insisted.

"And you've done your job," said Masaomi, "you came to the house and found nothing that would suggest that Kimi's in danger living with us, her family."

"But, I," the ugly woman looked away from the rest, "this wasn't how it was supposed to happen! I was supposed to take her away from here!"

"Well be happy you don't have to now," said Kaname.

"But, but" the woman kept sputtering.

Just then everyone was distracted by the sound of a phone ringing.

"Sorry, excuse me," Masaomi apologized as he pulled his phone out,"Hello?"

"Masa," said his mother on the other end.

"Oh hello Mother," said Masaomi.

"Did that woman come back today trying to take away Kimi?" Miwa asked, sounding like she was in a panic.

"Yes Mother she did. She's right here in fact," said Masaomi.

"What?" Miwa shouted, "put her on right now! I want to talk to her!"

"Yes of course," Masaomi said. He looked towards Ms. Yakki. "It's my mother. She wishes to speak to you."

"Hmm," Ms. Yakki said taking the phone, "Hello?"

"It's this Ms. Yakki, the same Yakki woman who was trying to take away my Kimi?!" Miwa snapped.

"Well kind of," Ms. Yakki said, "but...,"

"You bitch! " Miwa shouted. She did so loudly everyone else in the room could hear her.

"What's a bitch?" Kimi asked.

"Shh," all three of her brothers responded.

"How dare you just show up out of the blue and threatened to take away my Kimi! You didn't even bother to contact me or my husband on the matter. You just show up, surprise my sons, most of who aren't in authority to handle such matters and just take one look around to justify your decision to take Kimi away from her family! If I was there in person, you be suffering a lot more than just my words!"

"Uh," Ms. Yakki managed to get out, at a loss from words.

"Dear, let me have the phone," said Rintaro, "madam, you'll have to forgive my wife. She's a little cranky. It's late over here. However, what she said is true, how dare you show up and just ambush our sons to try and take away our daughter! We've spoken to your supervisor and he's assured us he didn't see the need to take away Kimi. He'd barley heard about this situation. In fact he's said he's been trying to get a hold of you in ordering to call you back to the office!"

"Um," Ms. Yakki pulled out her phone and looked at it to see the different missed calls, "Oh how about that."

"Yes, so I think it's best you just leave our family alone for now and leave. Both my wife and I will be seeing you in person when we return to Japan," said Rintaro.

"Very well," said Ms. Yakki. She calmly hung up the phone and handed it back to Masaomi.

"Everything alright?" Ms. Tannin asked.

"It looks like you win today. I've been called back to my office. Good day to you." The social worker rushed past, looking embarrassed.

"So does this mean it's over?" Masaomi asked.

"I think it is," said Ms. Tannin, "from what I've seen, there's no reason to be too worried about Kimi's condition while living here."

"Thank you very much," said Masaomi, as he, Ukyo and Kaname all bowed to her.

"I think so too," said Miss Hogo kindly. Both Masaomi and Ukyo looked up at her.

"Thank you for that," they both said.

"Of course," said Miss Hogo.

* * *

"Oh god, how am I going to get over this?" Ms. Yakki muttered to herself as she came to the front door. Right as she was about to open the door, it was opened from the other side where Natsume and Subaru both stood.

"Oh, you again," said Subaru.

"Is she this so called social worker?" Natsume asked.

"Yeah, I hope she's not here to get Kimi again," said Subaru.

"Out of my way please," Ms. Yakki sneered as she tried to rotate around the two men.

"Are you here to try and take Kimi away?" Natsume asked.

"Please just let me be," Ms. Yakki insisted as she kept trying to get past. Then she noticed a new group heading to towards the house. "Is that the Ichigi family?" she asked.

"Now what are they up to?" Natsume asked annoyed as his coworker and his family approached.


	50. Chapter 50

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Subaru had just returned home when he saw Natsume's car pulling up in front of the condo, right in front of at least two cars he didn't regonize.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was concern about the social worker coming back and the visit from Kimi's teacher and principal. I wanted to come see how it went," Natsume explained.

"Hmm," muttered Subaru, "that woman really got under my skin yesterday. It made me feel kind of powerless, that there wasn't anything I could do to try and keep her from taking Kimi away."

" That was probably her intent. She figured none of your older brothers would be there that could counteract her," said Natsume as they came up to the door.

"Hmm, well if she ever shows up again, I won't let her get the better of me!" Subaru insisted.

"Good," said Natsume right as the woman came to the door herself.

"Oh, you again," said Subaru.

"Is this the so called social worker?" Natsume asked.

"Yeah, I hope she's not here to try and take Kimi away again," said Subaru.

"Out of my way please, " Ms. Yakki sneered as she tried to rotate around the two men.

"Are you here to try and take Kimi away?"Natsume asked.

"Please, just let me be," Ms. Yakki insisted as she kept trying to get past. Then she noticed a new group heading towards the house. "Is that the Ichigi family?" She asked.

"Now what are they up to?" Natsume asked annoyed as his coworker and his family approached.

"Asahina!" Ichigi snapped mad,"you know what your little brat of a sister did today?!"

"I think you're mistaken. Neither of my sisters are what I would call brats," said Natsume.

"Oh yeah? Then why did your sister beat up our boy?!" Mrs. Ichigi asked as she coddled her son close to her. As if on cue, the boy started to cry.

"She was so mean to me!" he insisted as he kept acting like he was crying.

Both Natsume and Subaru looked at the boy's face and neither one could see any kind of mark on him.

"Where are your other brothers? I want to talk to them!" Ichigi insisted.

"Sure, I'm sure they've been wanting to talk to you as well," said Natsume.

" Maybe I should stick around for this as well, just in case," said Ms. Yakki.

"You're Ms. Yakki," Mrs. Ichigi said in delight, "you were the one that helped my husband's friend from his old company with that slut halfier."

"Yes it's good to see you again," said Ms. Yakki.

"You helped in that case too?" Natsume asked.

"Yeah so what?" Ichigi asked.

"Just seems like an odd coincidence is all," said Natsume.

* * *

"Mr. Asahina, please forgive us for waisting your time with such a thing like this," Ms. Tannin said as she and Miss Hogo bowed in respect to the Masaomi and the rest of the Asahina family who stood in the living room. The only two not present were Wataru and Kimi.

"No please, it's fine," Masaomi said calmly, "hopefully we won't have to worry about such a problem in the future."

"I hope so too," said Miss Hogo, "um, actually, now that this whole ordeal is over, I was actually wondering...,"

"Masaomi," Natsume suddenly called out as he and Subaru came into the room, "you have company." Before Masaomi could ask who, he saw the Ichigi family and Ms. Yakki coming back into the room.

"What are they doing here?" Yusuke asked what everyone was thinking.

"We're here because your little sister beat up my son!" Ichigi snapped as he walked up to Masaomi and Ukyo, "Something she probably picked up from the two of you!"

"Kimi beat up your son?" Masaomi asked as he walked over to the boy who once again started to cry as if he was just putting on an act.

"It's true, she hurt me!" Aiji whined.

"Here let me look at you," Masaomi insisted calmly in a gentle tone.

"Why what are you going to do to my son?!" Aiji's mother asked in a panic as she tried to shield her son away from Masaomi in a protective manner.

"I'm a doctor Madam, I just want to see if there's anything I can do to try and help whatever injury Kimi apparently inflicted on him," Masaomi explained kindly. "Please, let me just take a look at him."

"No thank you!" snapped the woman. Masaomi took a deep breath.

"Very well, but how are we to tell exactly how serious Kimi beat him up?" he asked.

"She didn't," Ms. Tannin spoke up, "I didn't see her do anything to the boy and I was outside there after school."

"That's not true, she really did beat me up!" Aiji shouted as he suddenly tore away from his mother and everyone could see he didn't even have a scratch on his face.

"He looks okay to me," said Masaomi, "are you sure Kimi did something to him?"

"Yes," said the entire Ichigi family.

"Really,because like I said before, I didn't see anything," said Ms. Tannin. "What about you Miss Hogo?"

"Uh, all I saw was Aiji running away crying, but I didn't see Kimi attack him or anything," said Miss Hogo.

"See, I would think your son's making things up again," said Ms. Tannin.

"I am not! I am not!" Aiji shouted as he stomped his foot.

"Calm down sweet heart," said his mother, "we know you're right in this situation. We know you're the victim in all of this."

"Thank you Mommy," said Aiji as he buried his face into his mother's stomach.

"Oh god," muttered Yusuke.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ichigi, I don't know what happened today or in general between your son and our sister, but please, this really has gone on far too long. Please, can't we just agree to have your son stay away from Kimi and we promise we'll do our best to keep Kimi and Wataru away from him. You have my entire family's word," Masaomi promised. As he did, all his brothers and Ema all bowed to the family.

"I supposed we can try that," Mrs. Ichigi said. She looked towards her husband, "right dear?"

Ichigi didn't reply. He looked like he was seriously thinking about something.

"Dear?" his wife asked again.

"I, is there a bathroom around here?" Ichigi asked.

"Upstairs, to the left," said Masaomi, pointing the way.

"Thank you," Ichigi said calmly as he walked up the stairs. His wife meanwhile moved over towards Ms. Yakki.

"Did you find anything that proved that the girls should be removed from the house?" she whispered.

"No, especially after I got an earful from her parents. The mother was extremely mad about it!" Ms. Yakki whispered back.

"You mean, she's staying?" Mrs. Ichigi asked sounding both worried and annoyed.

"At this point yes," said Ms. Yakki, "and to think I had a family lined up to ship her off to in America."

"You know it's rude to whisper like that in the presence of others," Kaname said to the two ladies from where they stood.

"Oh don't worry, we'll be out of your hair soon," said Mrs. Ichigi.

"Weren't you supposed to be gone right now anyway?" Ms. Tannin asked.

"Well, when the boy mentioned he had been beat up by the girl, I figured it might be something worth looking into," said Ms. Yakki.

"Uh-huh," said Yusuke, "does anyone here actually think that Kimi could do any real damage if she took on that kid?"

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Ichigi snapped, "Are trying to defend your stupid sister?"

"Hey, don't call her stupid!" Yusuke.

"Yusuke, calm down. Don't you and Ema have homework? Go do it?" Masaomi suggested.

"Yes, let's go do it," Ema said. She gripped Yusuke's elbow and pulled him towards the stairs.

"In the meantime, madam, why don't you and your son wait for your husband outside in your car?" Ukyo suggested, "and Ms. Yakki, you were leaving as well?"

"Let's just go for now," said Ms. Yakki. She, and Aiji quickly left.

"Good riddance," said Tsubaki smugly.

"Let's hope that's the last we have to deal with those people," said Azusa.

"Well, maybe you don't, I still work with the man," said Natsume. "What's taking him so long anyway?"

* * *

Ichigi looked at the different doors around him, each had a name on it to indicate who lived in what room.

'What room's hers?' he thought as he looked. He didn't know what he was planning to do when he saw her, but sometimes was making him feel the need to look for her. Finally, he came to a room that had Kimi's name on it. It was opened a crack and he could hear Kimi talking in it.

"What do you think Juli?" Something started chirping in the room.

'What's that in there with her?" Ichigi thought.

* * *

Ema had just rounded the corner to come to her room when she caught Ichigi standing outside Kimi's room.

"Um, excuse me sir," she spoke up. Ichigi jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Oh, it's you, the other sister," he said calmly.

"What are you doing here?" Ema asked.

"I uh, thought I heard your sister's voice and thought maybe I should try talking to her," said Ichigi.

"About what?" Ema asked cautiously.

"About her beating up other people," said Ichigi.

"Oh that, I really don't think Kimi beat up your son. No offence or anything," said Ema.

Ichigi stood up right and walked over to Ema. He came at her with such a force, that Ema found herself backing up until she was practically pinned up against the wall. Ichigi grabbed one of her arms.

"You are such a sweet sister you know that? I bet is this little girl is around you more often, she could turn out halfway decent," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Ema asked scared.

"I'm afraid my wife doesn't want to let this go so easily. She's very protective of our son. However, I might be able to help persuade her that it's not necessary since she has a sister like you to help guide her down the right path," Ichigi said. Ema wasn't sure if she liked where this conversation was going. Something about the way the man was holding her and the way he was talking was telling her he wanted something in return.

"Please let me go," she asked softly.

"No, wait, I was just going to ask if you would like to join me for something like dinner so I can get to know you better and know if you're as great a sister as you're claiming to be," Ichigi said.

'I knew it!' Ema thought.

"No, that won't happen. Whatever you and your wife may try to do in taking Kimi for whatever reason, won't work. My family won't let it happen!"

"Granted, but don't you think you could spare everyone the grief and just come have dinner with me. Just one dinner and I'll convince my wife to comply back off," Ichigi insisted.

"No, I'm sorry but I can't do that," Ema maintained.

At that, Ichigi started to look mad. "Think really carefully about what you're saying. I don't like being told no and in case you haven't noticed my wife and I are fighters who are not afraid to keep fighting your family until our dying breath in order to get your sister away from here!"

"Help!" Ema finally started to cry out.

* * *

"Just about done Juli," Kimi said.

"Good job Little Chi," Juli said proudly.

"Suddenly they heard Ema's cry for help.

"Chi!" Juli shouted as he dashed out of the room. Kimi followed fast. Both came out to see Ema being pinned to the wall by Ichigi.

Wolf!" Juli shouted, not waisting a minute as he ran and jumped onto Ichigi's head, yanking at his hair.

"Ah, get this thing off of me!" Ichigi shouted. Ema moved from the wall and over to Kimi.

"Are you okay Big Sister?" Kimi asked.

"I, I think so," Ema Sputtered, clearly still shaken.

"Ema, you okay?" Yusuke asked as he came running around the corner. He stopped when he saw the scene of Juli attacking Ichigi. "What did this basterd do?!"

"What was that screaming?!" Masaomi asked as he came behind Yusuke, along with several other brothers. They too saw the struggle between Ichigi and Juli.

"So Juli finally met Juli huh?" Louis said calmly.


	51. Chapter 51

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

"This has got to be the first time I ever wanted to cheer Juli on," said Tsubaki as everyone watched Juli continue his attack on Ichigi.

Natsume meanwhile moved over to Ema and Kimi.

"Are you two okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," said Ema.

"Did he do anything to you?" Natsume asked.

"Well, he, he tried asking me to dinner and when I kept saying no, he got really mad," Ema admitted.

" He asked you to dinner?" Natsume said, getting mad himself.

"He tried saying it was just a way to get to know each other. If he felt I a good sister to be around Kimi, he'd get his wife to stop harassing us; and not try getting Kimi taken away," Ema explained.

"Again with Kimi," Natsume said, getting more mad.

"When I found him, he was actually standing outside her room," Ema told him.

Natsume took a deep breath.

"Can you call your pet off?" he asked. As he asked that, Juli actually made Ichigi fall over.

"Die Wolf Die!" Juli shouted.

"Juli," Ema said, grasping the squirrel.

"You see Chi, this why you can't be too careful around wolves!" Juli shouted some more.

Both Masaomi and Natsume knelt down next to Ichigi.

"Are you alright Mr. Ichigi?" Masaomi asked calmly.

"What the hell was that?!" Ichigi snapped.

"It's Ema's pet Juli," said Masaomi.

"You call that beast a pet? It's a rabid squirrel! Kill it!" Ichigi demanded.

"No, no, don't hurt Juli!" Kimi shouted, pulling Juli to her.

"Don't worry Little Chi, I can take care of myself!" Juli assured her.

"Shut-up, you little brat!" Ichigi shouted.

"Hey!" Yusuke shouted back, "don't you yell at he like that!"

"Yusuke, calm down," said Ukyo grabbing his shoulder.

"He is right though sir, please don't yell at Kimi like that," said Masaomi.

"You shouldn't also try asking the other out on a date," said Natsume.

"Date?" Masaomi said surprised.

"It wasn't a date! I just wanted to talk to her in private," Ichigi tried to explain.

"A grown married man wanting to meet with a teenage girl in private? Doesn't that sound just slightly scandalous?" Natsume asked.

"I didn't intend it that way," Ichigi insisted.

"Yet she felt the need to call for help when she kept telling you no," Natsume pointed out.

"She's just like all of your other people, always trying to play victim in this," Ichigi muttered as he stood up.

"Mr. Ichigi, go home. We're done for the day,' said Masaomi. "I'm sure your wife is waiting for you out in the car. If the two of you want to come back later when the tension is not so high and we can discuss it in a civilized matter. In fact if you want to wake a bit, my parents will be returning from America soon. I'm sure the'd love to sit down and talk to the two of you, parent to parent. In the meantime, you have my word that my brother and sister will not bother your son as long as he does the same with them."

Ichigi shook his head in frustration. "Fine, just fine!" he declared, He looked over at Kimi. "I really hope that I never have to see your ugly face or that hideous hair again!"

"He's pushing it!" Yusuke shouted.

"Yeah he is!" Tsubakie agreed.

"No!" Ukyo said as he threw his arms out in front of most of the brothers, "We're not sinking to his level."

"Please, he's so low level, us going down a level won't seem like a big deal compared to him!" said Yusuke.

"Especailyl with what he said about Little Chi's hair," said Louis.

"I just call it as I see it! And I don't like what I see in her!" said Ichigi.

"But why?" asked Kimi, "What did I do to you to make you hate me?"

"Yes I think we would all like to know that," said Masaomi, "Why are you obsessed with Kimi being a part of this family? Most of us have hardly ever known you before we met you at Natsume's company picnic. Including you Natsume, right?"

"Yeah, we didn't really socialize with each that much up until Kimi came here. So what do you have against Kimi? She's just a little girl," said Natsume.

Ichigi looked conflicted, like he wanted to say something but just couldn't. Finally he said, "I never even wanted her born. I didn't want her in my life. But she had to be born and on top of that, she had to stay here, where I live and could see her everyday. Why can't you just leave me alone?!" At that, he finally managed to leave. As he tried to walk past several other of the brothers, each had a cold ice stare on their face that could have turn anyone's blood run cold. He also past by Miss Hogo and Ms. Tannin. Both also gave him an cold angry stare as he past him

Everyone waited a long time to make sure Ichigi was gone before anyone move. Kimi turned and buried her face into Ema's clothes, trying to slightly hide her tears from the man's yelling.

"I don't want him back again either! I don't like him being in my life!" she cried.

"Oh Kimi, don't worry," Masaomi said walking over and patting her head, "We're not going to let him into your life again, no matter what happens."

Kimi merely nodded as she kept hear face buried in Ema's shirt.

"Kimi," her teacher said as she too walked over to the little girl, "Please, don't get upset. That man is stupid and doesn't know how special you are like your real brothers do or your sister or your mommy and daddy."

Kimi looked away from Ema and and nodded, doing her best to calm down.

No one noticed Natsume follow after Ichigi, except for Subaru. He too followed after his brother.

"Ichigi," Natsume called out before Ichigi could make it out the door.

"What?" Ichigi asked as he turned around.

"I just want to ask one time. I won't tell anyone. But, are you or are you not Kimi's father?" Natsume asked.

Ichigi turned his back to Natsume. "There is no way, I'd ever acknowledge a halfer like her as my daughter," was all he said before he finally walked out of the condo.

Natsume sighed and turned back around to see Subaru behind him. "Did you hear all of that?" he asked.

"So is he?" Subaru tried to ask.

"It's hard to say, even after everything's said and done. But don't say anything to anyone else, especially Kimi. She doesn't need to be worried about something like that.

Subaru nodded his head in understanding.

* * *

"He won't come back will he?" Kimi asked after a while.

"If he does, he won't get such a warm welcoming as he got today," said Tsubaki as he came over and picked Kimi up, "No one insults our gorgeous little sister and gets away with it!"

"Very true," Azusa added as he came and stood next to Tsubaki. All the other brothers also gathered around Kimi.

"Yes, only a fowl man like him would insult a treasure like Kimi," Hikaru.

"Especially her golden hair," Louis said as he twisted a strand of it with his finger.

"He's must be a very bitter man who must feel that only his family's allowed to be happy, even at the expense of others," said Iori.

"Yes, people like him usually don't get smiled upon too friendly by the gods," said Kaname.

"I sure hope he gets what's coming to him, him and his family. Especially that little brat of his!" Yusuke added.

"We love you so much Little Sister!" Wataru shouted.

Kimi actually managed to smile hearing her brothers' words. It made her feel that everything was going to get better from now on.

"Hey look, our Kimi's smiling again," said Tsubaki.

"That's a much better look for her," said Hikaru tapping her nose, "our sweet treasure."

Masaomi, Ukyo, Miss Hogo and Ms. Tannin all stood off to the side watching the brothers all making a fuss over Kimi

"She sure is loved huh?" Miss Hogo said.

"Yes, she has been since she arrived," said Masaomi.

Miss Hogo nodded but then bit her lip. "Can I actually talked to you two alone?" she asked the two brothers. Both Ukyo and Masaomi looked at each other.

"Yes, I supposed we can," said Ukyo. The two brothers led her off to a private room.

"You can go on without Ms. Tannin," Miss Hogo called back to the principal.

"Sure," said Ms. Tannin.

"What's going on here?" Kaname asked walking up behind her. The woman jumped.

"They're just having a private talk. I'm sure it doesn't concern you," she said quickly.

"Hmm, probably," Kaname said smugly, "so, now that all is said and done, what happens now?"

"I supposed we go on with our lives and move on from this," said Ms. Tannin.

"Really, you're just going to move on from me that easily?" Kaname said.

"What are you talking about?" Ms. Tannin asked.

"Well, I'd like to think there's something going on between us," said Kaname.

"Please, I'm not falling for some smooth talker again!" Ms. Tannin snapped.

"Again?" Kaname asked, sounding interested. Ms. Tannin groaned.

"Yes, alright? I let myself fall victim to a smooth talker like you before to the point that I got dumped at the altar the minute someone who was more foolish than me who was willing to go along with whatever he said!" She finally admitted.

"So that's what happened," said Kaname. "Well, you know, not all men are as shallow as him. Some of us rather like a woman who is strong and smart and thinks for herself."

"I take it you're talking about yourself in this matter?" Ms. Tannin asked.

"If you're ever willing to have dinner with me, maybe you could find out for yourself," Kaname said before rejoicing the group surrounding Kimi. Ms. Tannin watched him, thinking about what he said.

* * *

"I hope everything can now calm down," Miss Hogo said as she, Masaomi and Ukyo all came into the private room.

"I have a feeling it will," said Masaomi.

"Me too," said Ukyo.

"That's good, because I think we need to address the other issue floating around. The one that concerns the three of us," said Miss Hogo.

"Oh right that," said Ukyo. Miss Hogo gave off a heavy sigh.

"I have to be honest with you gentlemen. The truth was, up until the day at the museum and even afterwards, I had actually started to take a liking to one of you." Both brothers looked at each other.

"I had hoped to talk to the one of you in private about it, but that seems to be difficult to do. So, I guess that'll just have to wait until I really can talk to the one of you that I've fallen for."

"No, please go ahead and tell us now," said Masaomi.

"I'm sure we can both handle it," Ukyo also insisted.

"Are you sure you won't break into a fight again?" Miss Hogo asked.

"We promise," said both brothers.

"Well, the truth is, it's you, Ukyo," said Miss Hogo.

Both brothers were quite for a moment.

"Really?" Ukyo finally said. He walked over and took her hand,"I'm happy to hear that. I really am."

"I'm happy to finally admit it," Miss Hogo replied. Then she looked over to Masaomi who was doing his best to not look disappointed.

"Masaomi, I'm sorry," she started to say.

"It's fine," Masaomi tried to assure her. "You can't help how you feel. Besides, now it's Ukyo who now has to deal with your brother."

"Right," said Ukyo as he came to realize that. "Well, I think is could be worth it."

Miss Hogo blushed before looking back to Masaomi. "I'm telling was actually going to say, I was going to offer to set you up with my cousin."

"Cousin?" Masaomi repeated.

"Yes, she got a job here in the city, so she's coming to stay with my brother and me until she gets her own place. I figured maybe you and her might like to meet," said Miss Hogo.

"Well I don't know," said Masaomi.

"Oh come on, give it a try," Ukyo encouraged.

"Well, I guess I could give it a try," said Masaomi.

"Great, I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that," said Miss Hogo, "although, I should warn you, my brother can be just as protective of her as he is of me."

"Oh," said Masaomi, " Well, maybe it'll be worth it."

"Yep, exactly," said Ukyo. He looked over at Miss Hogo again smiling.

"I think I'm going to go check on the others with Kimi," Masaomi said as an excuse, moving out of the room. Ukyo and Akemi both looked at each other.

"So," Ukyo started to say, "when did you?"

"Hard to say," Akemi replied, "I think ever since you first dropped Kimi off. It's not every day a handsome big brother shows up to drop off his sister."

"So if Masaomi had dropped Kimi off on her first day," Ukyo asked.

"Who knows?" Akemi said, "but let's not worry about that. Let's worry about the idea that you and I should maybe try going on a date or something."

"I think, that's a good idea," Ukyo said, as he squeezed her hand in affection.


	52. Chapter 52

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi kept giggling ad she listen to her brothers' words of praise. Some where kind and carrying sounding while some were kind of funny. She loved her brothers so much. She may not have felt that way when she first came to live with them. But now, she couldn't imagine her life without them.

She looked around at their different faces with joy, until she happened to notice Masaomi standing off to the side, not looking too happy.

"Masa?" she called out, prompting the others to all turn and look at him. Kimi managed to wiggle out of Tsubaki's arms and headed over to him. "Are you sad about something Masa?"

Masaomi merely smiled and patted his sister's head. "Don't worry about it Kimi. I am feeling a little sad about something, but I'll feel better about it soon," he assured her. "In fact, knowing my little sister cares about me so much is already helping."

"Really?" Kimi asked, feeling happy she could help her brother feel better.

"He speaks the truth," Kaname said standing behind him alone with Ms. Tannin, "the love of a sister can usually cure any problem a brother has, no matter how much it might hurt."

Kimi seemed to catch on what Kaname was saying as she went and threw her arms around Masaomi. "I'll always do my best to make you feel better Masa."

"Thank you Kimi," Masaomi said, feeling very touched by his sister's action.

Ukyo and Akemi Hogo walked back to the others actually holding hands in an affectionate manner when they happened to come across the scene between Masaomi and Kimi. Akemi actually let go of Ukyo's hand when she saw it. Ukyo looked over at her.

"I shouldn't have said anything right now. I don't think any of us were fully ready for that," she said.

"I don't know if there ever was a good time for it. But I don't think it would do anyone any good to keep it bottled up either," Ukyo said calmly as he took her hand again. Akemi managed to smile again at his words and the warmth of his hand.

"Well Miss Hogo, I think we've waited this family's time long enough. We should go," Ms. Tannin said suddenly.

"Right," said Akemi. She gave Ukyo's hand a final squeeze before letting go and following after Ms

Tannin.

"You should try to remember what I said my dear lady," Kamen called out.

Ms. Tannin turned and looked at him. "I will try," she said before moving on, followed by Miss Hogo.

"I'll call you later Ukyo," Miss Hogo also called back as she went.

"Sure," said Ukyo.

"Well, well, well, what happened there?" Hikaru asked smugly.

Ukyo looked at him out of his eye. "Nothing you should be worried about just yet," he said defensively.

"Oh, has our little Ukyo found himself a girl?" Tsubaki asked, "Or would it be more of a man for you?"

"I'll can put a lactose into your food you know," Ukyo said.

"It's true, I know of several he can use that you wouldn't even know you're taking until it's too late," Masaomi added.

"I'll do it. It'd be funny to see it happen," said Yusuke.

Ms. Tannin and Miss Hogo had just come down the stairs when they happen to come across Natsume and Subaru talking softly.

"Everything alright gentlemen?" Ms. Tannin asked.

"No, it's nothing Ma'am," Natsume insisted. "Thank you for your time today. I hope everything is now cleared up."

"Yes, in more ways than one," said Ms. Tannin as she walked past.

Miss Hogo smiled at the two as well as she walked past.

"I hope everything is fine between you and my oldest brothers as well Miss Hogo," Natsume said softly.

"Well, it may not be so great between one of them, but I think it'll get better in time. As for the other one, well, I'm really excited about where things go between us as of now," said Akemi.

"I'm happy to hear that. I hope I can be of help when it comes to your own brother," said Natsume.

"Yes, thank you," said Akemi. She bowed to Natsume and then left the condo along with Ms. Tannin.

"Um, did she confess to Ukyo or Masaomi or something?" Subaru asked.

"Yeah, I think so," said Natsume, "Let's hope they can handle it better this time."

"Well, I always looked to them as the smart ones," said Subaru.

"Exactly," said Natsume.

"This is so exciting, having nearly all our brothers here for dinner two nights in a row, huh Kimi?" Ema said later that night as she and Kimi did the dishes together.

"Yeah!" Kimi agreed. After Miss Hogo and Ms. Tannin had left, somehow, Natsume had been convinced to stay for dinner again. The only one who hadn't been there had been Futo due to a recording session. It seemed to really help make all the bad things of the day vanish from memory.

The two sisters were soon distracted by the sound of the phone ringing.

"I'll get it," Masaomi said as he picked it up, "Hello? Oh hi Futo."

"Futo?" Ema and Kimi both said surprised.

"No everything is fine now. The matter has been settled. Kimi's fine, she's right here in fact," Masaomi spoke over the phone. He turned and looked at Kimi. "Futo wants to talk to you," he said handing her the phone.

Kimi took it feeling confused, but answered anyway, "Hello?" she asked.

" Oh good, you are still there. You have no I how much you made me actually feel worried. I hope you feel really sorry for doing something like that to me while I was busy with my work."

"You were worried about me?" Kimi asked.

"Don't get a big head over it. Apparently, me acting like a caring big brother is good for my image. So, I've decided that keeping you around is a good idea after all. So next time you see me, you better act happy to see me because I'm going to have to act happy to see you to keep up appearances," Futo told her.

"Futo, are just saying that because you don't want to admit out loud that you really do like me and don't want me to go away?" Kimi asked.

There was a long pause on the other end. "What made you even think of saying such a thing to your older brother?" Futo finally asked.

"Some of our other brothers...," Kimi started to say.

"Yeah well, most of our other brothers are idiots, remember that. Also, don't go assuming what I do and don't like okay? You just remember to act happy to see me anytime I happen to be around, because that's how I have to act when I see you understand?"

Kimi had to giggle a little at Futo's comment. "Don't go laughing at me!" Futo said over the phone. That just made Kimi giggle even louder. "Ah, I don't even know why I bother talking to a giggle monster like you!"

Kimi had to take a deep breath to stop her giggles. "Do you want to talk to our big sister?" she asked.

"Oh she's there too? Yes I would like to talk to her," said Futo. Kimi handed Ema the phone then she looked at Masaomi.

"I take it Futo said something funny?" Masaomi asked with a smile.

"Futo can be funny even if he doesn't mean to be," Kimi said.

"Don't let him hear you say that," said Masaomi.

"Futo!" the two suddenly heard Ema shout. She look bewildered before she hung up.

"Did he say something?" Masaomi asked.

"Oh he always says something," said Ema. "But, I think deep down he means well."

"Yeah," Kimi agreed.

* * *

The next day, when Ukyo brought Kimi and Wataru to school, she happily held Wataru and Ukyo's hands as they walked into the school grounds together. All around them, the different parents were looking at them with slight surprise. Even Mura's mother, though hers was a more pleasant surprise.

"Good Morning. Mr. Asahina," she said politley as she walked up to the group.

"Good morning," Ukyo replied.

"It looks like everything is going well for you today," said the kind lady.

"Very much so," said Ukyo.

"Kimi do you want to go play before school starts?" Mura asked.

"Sure!" Kimi said, "do you want to come too Wataru?"

"Yeah!" Wataru said.

"Let's go!" Mura said, not seeming to care that Wataru was coming with them.

"I'm so glad Kimi and Mura are able to stay friends now," said Mura's mother.

"Me too," said Ukyo, "if you'll excuse me, I must go see Kimi's teacher," said Ukyo. Mura's mother nodded with a smile before moving aside to let Ukyo pass. As he came to the classroom, he happened to notice Mrs. Ichigi walking into another part of the school, along with her son. She too happened to notice Ukyo and gave him a sneer before heading further in.

Ukyo decided to simply ignore them and kept going in. He soon came to Miss Hogo's classroom where she was getting ready for the day. She turned around and smiled happily when she saw that Ukyo had come in.

"Ukyo!" she said with delight.

"Good morning," Ukyo said walking right up to her. "I hope I'm not being too bold about this, but I was hoping to pick up with where we left off yesterday."

"I agree fully," said Akemi. She gently took Ukyo's hand into her. "I know I said I'd try setting up Masaomi on a date with my cousin when she comes, but I would hope that you and I could enjoy a date or two together on our own."

"I would hope that was implied," said Ukyo. Akemi put her hand to his face.

"I really do like you Ukyo. I really do want this to work no matter what, no many brothers stand in our way," she said.

"Me as well," said Ukyo. As he said that, he gently managed to lay a soft kiss across her lips.

* * *

Kimi spent the rest of the day happy. She did her best in class, ate lunch with her friends without a fuss and c found herself skipping out of the classroom and over to her and Wataru's usual waiting spot to wait for Ema and Yusuke. She managed to beat Wataru to the spot and waited calmly for her siblings. However, her good mood was soon disrupted by a hard smack to the head. She looked around to see Aiji once again standing behind her. Only instead of his usual evil smile, he had an angry scowl on his face, very similar to his father's.

"I hope you're happy," Aiji said mad.

"I was until you came," said Kimi.

"Thanks to you, Daddy says we have to move!" Aiji said, "My mommy even came to talk to the principal today about it! And it's all your fault! I hate you now more than ever!"

"Well now you won't have to worry about me," said Kimi.

"I don't want to move! I like it here! But you have to be a problem and not go away. I hate you! I hate you!" Aiji shouted over and over again as he moved closer towards Kimi. Kimi start to back away until she realized she was actually running away from him. He chased her towards the school gates.

* * *

Wataru had just made it to the meeting spot when he saw the scary sight of Kimi being chased by Aiji towards the gate. Not waisting a minute, he sped off after the two of them as well.

"Leave her alone!" he called out.

Aiji however ignored him and kept perusing Kimi right as she came to the street. Kimi tried stopping on the sidewalk, only to have Aiji push her into the street, right as a car was heading her way.

"Little Sister!" Wataru shouted as he came running up and pushed Kimi out of the way in time. Kimi fell to the ground as Wataru pushed her and looked up in time to see the car that had been heading towards her hit him instead.

"Wataru!" Kimi cried out as she watched her brother fall.


	53. Chapter 53

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Natsume had just gotten off the elevator at his office building when he happened to come across Chomie Hogo walking down the hallway with some papers in his hands. He looked up as he noticed Natsume coming towards him.

"Hey, Asahina," he said.

"Hello Hogo," Natsume said as he tried to walk past.

"You know I heard a rumor. One of your brothers has finally managed to ask my sister out," said Chomie.

"I believe that rumor is true," said Natsume. He hoped he hadn't just condemned Ukyo to death for saying that. He heard Chomie give off a gtunt.

"You try and try to protect your sister and for what?" He asked out loud.

"I assure you Hogo, my brother will be very kind to her," said Natsume.

"He had better and the one that Akemi is planning on setting up with our cousin. Assuming that rumor is true too," said Chomie.

"I don't know about that, but if she does, I can assure you, he will," said Natsume.

"Good, because my cousin is like a sister to me. If anything happens to her, it'd be no different than if something happened to Akemi!" Hogo snapped.

"I'll make sure my brother knows that," said Natsume.

"Oh, there's something else I heard going around," said Chomie, "apparently Ichigi put in for a transfer this morning."

"Ichigi put in for a transfer?" Natsume asked surprised.

"Yeah, it took nearly everyone by surprise. He and his family are moving out of Tokyo all together," said Chomie.

"Really?" Natsume said. He turned and headed down to Chomie's office. As he came to the office, he happened to see the door was open and could overhear Ichigi on the phone.

"That's fine, that'll work. It doesn't sound too different from my current job. Thanks boss."

"So it is true," Natsume said walking into the office.

"What do you want?" Ichigi asked, clearly mad about Natsume being in his office.

"I wanted to come see if it was true you were trying to get a transfer to another company outside of Tokyo," said Natsume.

"It's none of your business!" Ichigi replied.

"Does it have anything to do with you nor succeeding in getting Kimi taken away from me and my family?" Natsume asked.

Ichigi shot daggers at Natsume. "I've told you before, I want nothing to do with that little brat! You want her so badly, feel free to keep her! My wife and I just felt we needed a change of secrecy and we felt _our _son could function better outside a big city! That's it, end of story, bye-bye. I got to go, I promise my wife I'd pick up_ our _son up from school!" He got up from his desk and deliberately bumped into Natsume's shoulder as he walked past him.

Natsume watched him walk off.

"Ichigi," he said softly, "can you promise me then that this means you'll leave Kimi alone and let her stay here with my family forever?"

"Ichigi don't give a Damn what happens to her anymore," Ichigi called back.

"Hmm," Natsume muttered. As far as he was concerned, as long as Ichigi and his family was gone, he could only hope Kimi was free to just live a normal happy childhood like she was supposed to.

* * *

Ema and Yusuke were walking rather quickly to their siblings' school.

"I hope Kimi was able to have a nice day at school today," Ema said.

"Yeah, " said Yusuke, "you know, just once I'd like to, I don't know, just knock that kid that's always picking on her over or something! I hate that kid!"

Ema surprised him by gently placing her hand on his arm. "Don't think like that," she said, "I don't think Kimi would want to see you as something other than the nice big brother she knows you as," she said.

Yusuke had to take a deep breath as he considered what Ema said. "You're right," he agreed. The last thing he'd want would be for Kimi not to look at him like he was her hero or something.

As the two rounded the corner to their brother and sister's school, both had to practically leap out of the way as a car came speeding past them.

" Hey, learn to slow down will you!" Yusuke shouted after it.

"Calm down," Ema said. She couldn't help but think that the car looked a little familiar. As they kept walking past the car towards the school. As they approached, still following the car, they happened to see Kimi stumbling out in front of the car and the car almost seemed to be speeding up. Before Ema or Yusuke could even move however, Wataru appeared in time and pushed Kimi out of the way, just in time as the car hit the breaks and hit him instead.

"Wataru!" The two heard Kimi shout.

"Wataru!" Ema also shouted as she and Yusuke ran towards their brother. As they came near, the driver of the car hurried out of his car. It was Ichigi.

"It wasn't my fault!" he said immediately. Yusuke grabbed him by his shirt. "You hit my brother!" he shouted mad.

Ema knelt down next to Wataru.

" Wataru!" she said looking over her brother.

"Wataru?" Kimi said as she crawled over to him as well. "He's okay right Big Sister?"

Just then, Wataru started to moan and looked up at his two sisters. His face was all cut up.

"Big Sister, Little Sister," he said weakly.

"Wataru, are you alright?" Ema asked.

"My arm hurts," Wataru moaned.

Yusuke heard his brother's moans and shoved Ichigi back into his car before joining his sisters at Wataru's side.

"You okay short-stuff?" he asked.

"My arm hurts," Wataru moaned again.

"Well it's not my fault!" they suddenly hear Aiji whining. "He jumped in front of my daddy's car on his own!"

"You pushed me into the street and that's why your daddy hit him!" Kimi shouted, "So it is your fault! You hurt my brother!" She stood up and ran over to Aiji. "You did hurt him!" She tried hitting him, but Aiji was easily able to overpower her.

" You're so stupid! Next time, I should drop you off a cliff!" Aiji taunted as he pushed her down and looked like she was going to kick her. At that, Yusuke gripped Aiji by his shoulder.

"You ever threatened or hurt one of my siblings again, and I'll put you in a body bag, you little twerp!" he said before pushing Aiji away. As he did, Aiji lost b his balance and fell. He started to cry.

"You pushed me! You pushed me!" he whined over and over again.

"You pushed my son?!" Ichigi shouted as he stood up from his car.

"Shut-up you!" Both Yusuke and Kimi shouted.

"Is everything okay?" Ms. Tannin suddenly asked as she came running out of the school along with some other teachers and parents.

"He pushed me into the street in front of a car and so Wataru had to save me and he got hit instead!" Kimi said quickly, fighting tears pointing at both Aiji and his father.

"Is that true?" Ms. Tannin asked as she stormed over to Ichigi, and actually grabbed the man by his tie.

"I, I don't know what happened. Both kids came out of nowhere. I'm sure the little girl is just exaggerating what happened. She's upset and confused," said Ichigi in his defense.

"No, Kimi was pushed," Wataru said weakly.

"Shh, try not to move around too much," Ema said.

"Don't worry, we have an ambulance on the way!" Wataru's teacher said kneeling down next to her and Wataru.

"Oh come on, the kid obviously has an concussion or something," Ichigi tried to insist.

"Mr. Ichigi, call me crazy, but I believe those kids over you and your crazy son's story. And I'm sure so will they're other brothers, and I don't think they'll be too happy about it!" Ms. Tannin said before shoving the man back into his car.

* * *

Kimi sat curled up in Ema's lap as the two sisters sat in the waiting room of a hospital along with Yusuke.

"When will we know if Wataru's okay?" Kimi whispered.

"Don't worry, Masaomi is working on him right now," Ema said as she attempted to comfort her sister.

"I hate Aiji so much! I hope he and his daddy go to jail for hurting him!" Kimi said mad.

"Yeah, that'd be only fair," said Yusuke.

"Now, now, don't be cruel," said Ema.

"It would be nice though," said Yusuke.

Just then Masaomi came out into the lobby.

"Masa!" Kimi shouted as she got down from Ema's lap and ran over to Masaomi, "Masa, is Wataru okay?!"

"He's going to be just fine. He has a broken arm and a slight concussion, but he'll make a great recovery," Masaomi assured her, patting her head.

"Yay!" Kimi cheered, "can I see him?"

"Sure, he's in room 5," said Masaomi. Kimi dashed off ahead of her siblings to Wataru's room.

Before Masaomi, Ema and Yusuke could follow, they heard a familiar, annoying voice coming into the lobby.

"You don't have to manhandled me!" They heard Ichigi complaining as they turned around to see Ichigi being dragged into the lobby by a police officer. The officer looked towards The Asahina group.

"Excuse me," he said dragging Ichigi over to them, "are you the older siblings of that boy that got hit by a car near the elementary school?"

"Yes," said Ema.

"Is he the driver? I found him loitering outside the hospital when I came here to question you about the incident," said the officer.

"Yeah, that's him," said Yusuke, "you stupid mother-f...,"

"Yusuke," Masaomi interrupted.

"I've come here to see if you wish to press charges against him for this," said the officer.

"Press charges? For what? I didn't do anything! It was an accident!" Ichigi insisted, "It's not like I did it on purpose!"

"You could have slow down a little," said Ema.

"Are you suggesting that when I saw your stupid sister stumble out into the street, I deliberately speed up my car to hit her instead?!" Ichigi snapped. Everybody in the whole lobby looked at him with a questionable look.

"Okay buddy, how about we take you down town until you calm down," said the officer. He turned and pulled Ichigi along with him. "I'll have someone contact you about wanting to press charges."

"Sure, thank you, I'll probably want to consult with my brother the lawyer and my parents," said Masaomi.

"That's fine," said the officer.

"Can we also file charges against his stupid kid?" Yusuke called out.

"Yusuke," Masaomi said in a warning tone.

"Alright," said Yusuke. He cracked a smile. "It was funny to know I managed to finally get that kid!" Both Ema and Masaomi shook their heads.

Kimi cam running into Wataru's room where he was sitting on his bed trying to read his comic book.

"Wataru!" Kimi shouted as she came and climbed onto the bed and threw her arms around Wataru's neck. "Oh Wataru, you're okay, I'm so glad you're okay! You saved my life!"

"Of course I did. That's what big brothers do and I couldn't be a good big brother if I didn't!" Wataru said proudly.

"You're the best big brother ever!" Kimi declared as she kept hugging him.

"You mean that?" Wataru asked.

"Mmm-hmm," said Kimi, "are other brothers are great and so is our sister, but you are always going to be one of the best because you saved my life! I love you Big Brother. I couldn't ask for a better big brother!"

Wataru blushed.

"I've wanted to hear you say that for so long!" he said happily, hugging his sister with his un-broken arm.


	54. Chapter 54

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi kept hugging Wataru tight, only to be distracted by the sound of someone cooing over them.

"Ah, that is so cute and sweet!" She and Wataru turned to the door to see Ema, Yusuke and Masaomi all standing there watching them.

"Sorry," said Ema, "you two did look so cute just now." She walked over to the bed and patted Wataru's head. "How are you feeling, Wataru?"

"I'm okay, I got a cool looking cast. Want to sign it?" Wataru asked.

"Sure, if I had a marker," said Ema looking around.

"I'll get some for you tomorrow, Wataru," Masaomi promised.

"Ah," Wataru muttered looking annoyed.

"Next time try to be more prepared when you get your arm broken," Yusuke teased.

"That's nor funny Yusuke," said Masaomi.

"I get to sign it too, right Wataru?" Kimi asked.

"Of course you can Little Sister," Wataru promised.

"I'll even let you go first okay Kimi?" Ema offered.

"Thank you Big Sister. I'm going to put HERO on it too so everyone knows Wataru is a hero!" Kimi boasted, "he did save me after all."

"That's right, good job Wataru," said Masaomi.

"What's going to happen to the bad guy who hit him?" Kimi asked.

"That we're going to wait to see what Mom and Dad have to say for now," said Masaomi.

* * *

"I still don't see why I have to go downtown," Ichigi said as the police brought him out of the hospital.

"You could use a good cool down. Besides, my superiors would want you to keep you around until the Asahina family decides what they want to do in regards to you hitting one of their family members," said the officer.

"Like loosing one brother from that family would have been that big of a blow," said Ichigi.

"You have no idea," he suddenly heard Natsume said.

He looked past the offer to see Natsume walking towards the hospital entrance along with his two triplet brothers and a few other brothers.

Natsume marched straight up to the man and slapped his face.

"You out couldn't just slip out of our lives quietly. You had to go out with a bang didn't you?" Natsume asked mad, "how could you run over my brother like that!"

"I didn't do it on purpose! Both he and your dumb sister were the ones that came out in front of my car!" said Ichigi.

"Let me hurt him, please!" Tsubakie begged, "We're already at a hospital, he'll be fine!"

"Tsubaki, there's a cop here and if you did anything to him like what I think you're thinking, you'll be the one to go to jail," said Azusa.

"He's right," said the cop, "I take it you gentlemen are some of the other brothers? I've already talked to your older brother and told him to have you contact the police station should you wish to press charges."

"I think my mother wishes too," Ukyo said, holding his phone to his ear, "yeah, I'm looking at the driver right now. It's the father of that boy who's been harassing Kimi."

"Oh my god!" Miwa's shouts could be heard over Ukyo's phone. "You let him know, Rintaro and I are coming back to Japan and he is going to pay. Oh he is so going to pay! There is no way he's going to get away with hurting my baby!"

"I think he realizes this Mom," said Ukyo.

"Good, I hope the idea keeps him up at night!" Miwa replied. Ukyo sighed and nodded before looking towards the police officer and Ichigi. "I don't know what she has in mind yet, but she is going to be taking action."

"Very well, we were planning to keep him until we knew what you wanted to do. Now well keep him until your mother and father come home," said the officer.

"That's not fair!" Ichigi tried to argue.

"Let go," the officer said, dragging him off without another word.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to him legally before he goes?" Tsubaki asked as they all watched Ichigi get dragged off.

"Let's go and see Wataru," said Azusa pushing Tsubaki towards the door.

* * *

"So what else should we make sure to bring you Wataru?" Masaomi asked.

Wataru thought about it for a while. "Hmm, do you think Natsume can bring me a cool new video game?"

"Way ahead of you Wataru," they heard Natsume say. The five occupants of the room all turn and saw some of their other brothers had come into the room.

"I have one here for one of your portable devices," Natsume said, holding an envelope up. "Though, I don't know how you're going to be able to play it with one arm."

"I'll help him play it!"Kimi offered.

"Oh, that's our Kimi, always the helpful type," said Tsubaki.

"We also brought you some manga and DVDs for you," Azusa added holding up a plastic bag.

"Not to mention all the junk food you can handle!" Tsubakie cheered holding up another bag.

"Oh, oh, I want to see!" Wataru said excited.

"Be careful with that arm,"Masaomi warned.

"He's fine," said Tsubaki as he walked over to the bed and dumb the contents of the bag on to it.

Dozens of candy bars, bags and other snack foods spread all over.

"Oh yummy!" Wataru cheered. "Come on Little Sister, let's get some!"

"You want to share? You're the hero," said Kimi.

"It's okay, I want to share," Wataru insisted.

"Well okay," Kimi said looking at the pile.

"Uh, before you do that, Wataru, do you want to talk to Mom?" Ukyo asked walking over to the bed.

"Mom?" Wataru said surprised as his brother handed him the phone, "Hello, Mom?"

"Hi honey," Miwa said kindly, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, I have to wait until tomorrow I can let people sign their names when someone can get me some markers," said Wataru.

"Oh sorry honey, but just make sure you save room for me and your dad so we can sign that. We're actually coming home by tomorrow," said Miwa.

"You are?" Wataru said surprised.

"Mmm hmm, your dad was able to find us a flight to Japan that leaves in two hours so we should be home by tomorrow. And when we do, I promise you, we are going to make sure the man who did this to you pay!" Miwa swore.

"Are you going to make him pay for what his son did to Kimi?" Wataru asked.

"Oh yes!" Miwa insisted, "you let her know, Mommy and Daddy are coming back and we're going to fix a fee things!"

"You want to tell her yourself? She's right here," said Wataru.

"Sure, put her on," said Miwa.

"It's Mom," Wataru said handing Kimi the phone.

"Hello, Mommy?" Kimi said into the phone.

"Hi honey, guess what? Daddy and I are coming home tomorrow and we're going to make sure that boy no longer hurt you or Wataru again!" Miwa said.

"Thank you Mommy," said Kimi.

"And you know what else is going to happen Kimi? With Daddy and I coming home, we can finally spend some time together like we promised when we first brought you home."

"You mean I'll be with you instead of my brothers?" Kimi asked.

"Well, yes, we want to spend time with you too," said Miwa.

"Oh," said Kimi.

"It'll be fun, you'll see," said Miwa, "now can I talk to Masa?"

"Yes Mommy," said Kimi handing the phone to her big brother.

"So Kimi, what did our Mom say?" Ema asked.

"She and Daddy are coming home," said Kimi.

"Oh that's great, I bet you can't wait to see them huh Kimi?" Ema said.

"Mommy said she'll take me away," said Kimi.

"What?!" Wataru said.

"I think she might have mentioned that once she and Rintaro return, you'll just spend some time together at Rintaro's apartment like they had planned to when they first brought you home," said Natsume.

"Yeah Kimi, I'm sure you'll be back to the condo after a while," said Azusa.

"Hmm," Kimi said moving closer to Wataru. It felt a little bit weird that after all that trouble she and her brothers and sister went through to make sure Aiji's family and the scary lady didn't take her away to suddenly leave them, even if it was different circumstances.

"Okay, we'll looks like things are going to really get cleared up after tomorrow," said Masaomi hanging up the phone and handing it to Ukyo. "I think it's best if we let Wataru get some rest."

"Can I stay with Wataru for a while?" Kimi asked.

"Now Kimi," Masaomi started to say. Kimi started to give him puppy dog eyes and even whimpered a little.

"Oh god, who taught her that trick?" Natsume asked.

Tsubaki smirked and tried looking away innocent manner.

"Oh Kimi,"Masaomi said, giving in to silent pleading, "I'll go see about you spending the night," he said heading out of the room.

"Thank you Masa!" Kimi said.

"No problem," Masaomi said walking out of the room. Ukyo followed him.

"So did Mom tell you anything else?" he asked.

"Just that Rintaro was able to get a flight in California that leaves in two hours and we'll see them sometime tomorrow. They may go back to apartment first to rest before they try coming to the condo. They even come straight to the hospital to help take Wataru home," said Masaomi.

"Did she say anything about what she wanted to do about the Ichigi family?" Ukyo asked.

"Just that she wants to make sure they pay for what they've done. They were already planning on taking action against them and the social worker for the whole fiasco in them trying to get Kimi taken away. But now that this happened, Mom practically wants blood!"

"Yeah, I've already been going through some different actions we can take against them and a few of my partners at my firm are looking for other actions we can take as well," said Ukyo.

Masaomi nodded. "As long as Kimi and Wataru don't have to suffer anymore, that's all that should matter," he said.

"Yes," Ukyo said in agreement, "by the way, do you think Kimi's okay with going stay with Mom and Rintaro when they come back? She sounded kind of upset about the idea.

"Did she?" Masaomi said, "Well, she still does know then that well, but I'm almost certain she'll be okay with it."

"Masa, Kyo? The two men suddenly heard Akemi Hogo calling out. They turned and saw her heading towards them followed closley by a woman similar in age and body shape, with short brown hair heading their way.

"I heard Wataru got hit by a car. Is he going to be okay?" Akemi asked.

"Oh yes, he has a broken arm, but he'll recover quickly I'm sure," said Masaomi.

"Oh good, that's a relief," said Akemi, "Oh that reminds me, Masaomi, I'd like to introduce you to my cousin Izumi Hogo."

"Hello," said the kind looking woman. She had a smile similar to Akemi's. Masaomi actually blushed at her grin.

"So, Akemi tells me you are a doctor and the oldest of 15 children?" Izumi said.

"Oh yes, I am," said Masaomi.

"Wow, that's amazing. So, would you like to have dinner sometime?" Izumi said.

"We could try having a double date," Akemi suggested.

"I wouldn't mind that," said Ukyo.

"Sure, we'll call you ladies, when we know of a good time," said Masaomi.

"Great, please give our best to Wataru," said Akemi as she and her cousin walked off.

"Well, she seems cute huh?" Ukyo asked.

"Yeah," said Masaomi looking excited.

* * *

That night Kimi slept in a spear bed in Wataru's room, she found herself not able to sleep. Mostly due to thinking about what her mom had said about taking her away. She remembered what Natsume and Azusa said, how it wasn't the same as before, but she still wasn't sure how she felt leaving her brothers at all. She carefully got up and walked over to Wataru's bed, climbing in next to him. She figured that at least for now, she should try being as close to her brothers as she, especially her hero.


	55. Chapter 55

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

When Masaomi walked into Wataru's room the next room, he was slightly surprised to see Kimi sleeping in Wataru's bed with him, with her arm draped across his chest. It was actually really cute.

He almost didn't want to wake either one up. However he knew he had to, since the sooner he did Wataru's examinations, the sooner he could take him home.

He walked over to the bed and carefully picked Kimi up from the bed.

She moaned a little as she cuddled into his chest. Masaomi felt happy at the gesture before moving to laying her back down in her spare bed. Before he could though, Kimi slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Masa?" she said softly.

"Hi sweetie, good morning," said Masaomi, "glad you're awake. Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, I felt lonely so I slept in Wataru's bed," said Kimi.

"I saw that," said Masaomi, "we should probably wake him up huh?" Still holding Kimi in his arms, he walked back to Wataru's bed and gently shook him. "Wataru, Wataru, time to get up."

"Wake up Wataru!" Kimi shouted.

"Kimi, not so loud!" Masaomi said quickly.

At that, Wataru started to moan himself and woke up.

"Hey buddy, sorry if we were too loud," said Masaomi.

"You had to get up," said Kimi.

"Yes Kimi," said Masaomi, "but Kimi's right. The sooner we get you examined, the sooner we can take you home."

"Mmm, okay," said Wataru, "do you have any markers for my cast?"

"Not yet, they'll be at the house waiting for you," said Masaomi, "I think Ema got you some really colorful ones."

"I get to sign first!" Kimi made sure to mention.

"Yes Kimi," Masaomi said chuckling, "Why don't you go get changed in the bathroom while I'll go get you two some breakfast."

As Kimi came out of the bathroom, she found Masaomi helping Wataru put his shirt on.

"There, see that wasn't too difficult," he assured his little brother.

"It's annoying though," muttered Wataru.

"Now don't start acting like Yusuke," said Masaomi. He pulled a table with food on it over to the bed for him, "eat up okay?" He glanced over at Kimi, "you too." Kimi scampered over to the bed and climbed up next to her brother. "If you need help eating, I'm sure Kimi can help okay?"

"I don't need help. I'm a big boy!" Wataru insisted.

"Yes but even big boys need help sometimes," Masaomi said patting his head again, "I'll be back in a little bit okay?"

As soon as Masaomi was gone, Wataru picked up his fork and tried to eat, but it was actually hard being able to hold it firmly in his hand.

"Wataru, are you sure you don't need help?" Kimi asked.

"No, I can do it. I'm a big boy after all," Wataru insisted, as his food slipped from the fork and on to his shirt.

"Here," Kimi said offering him her fork. Wataru sighed and reluctantly took a bite.

"Are you made at me now, Wataru?" Kimi asked.

"No Little Sister, I could never be mad at you. That mean Aiji though, him I wish I could tell how mad I am at him! I'd want to break his arm!"

"Wataru!" Kimi said, "You're not mean, don't do that!"

"Oh right Little Sister, sorry," Wataru said calmly down. He flicked a bit of his food with his finger. Then another and another, one that went and accidentally landed on Kimi's shirt.

"Oh, sorry Kimi," he said.

"It's okay," said Kimi. She giggled and flicked a bit of her food towards her brothers plate, landing on it perfectly.

"Goal!" Wataru cheered, "let me try!"

* * *

"Wataru, I have," Masaomi started to say when he came back into Wataru's room, only to have a thing of eggs land splat on the wall next to him. He looked over at his two young siblings to see them looking at him shocked and different stains of food all over the walls and on the bed.

"Do I want to know?" he asked sternly.

"We were just playing," Kimi said innocently.

Masaomi gave her a small smile. "Well, you know you're not supposed to play with your food, right?"

"Yes Masaomi," both siblings said together.

"Okay, I'll get someone in here to clean this up then and I happen to have good news Wataru, you should be allowed to leave this afternoon," said Masaomi.

"Yay!"Wataru cheered.

"Can I stay with Wataru until then?" Kimi asked.

"Of course you can Kimi," said Masaomi kindly.

"When will Mom and Dad be home by the way?" Wataru asked, "they are coming home right?"

"Yes, don't worry, they'll be home sometime today okay?" Masaomi said.

"Are they going to take me away then?" Kimi asked timidly.

"No Kimi, I'm sure there's other things they'll want to take care of first and want to visit with Wataru," said Masaomi.

"Okay," Kimi said, sounding a bit relived.

"But you'll probably be going back to your daddy's apartment tonight," Masaomi added.

"Oh," Kimi said, now sounding disappointed.

"Here, let's see what kind of games Natsume brought you to play with," Masaomi said opening one of the bags the triplets had brought yesterday. "Oh look, he even brought you two game controllers so Kimi can play. Let's see if we can find you one that is easier to use with just one hand."

"I'll help if you need it," said Kimi.

For the rest of the morning and in to the afternoon, Kimi managed to find some enjoyment in playing the games or reading the comics and manga Azusa had brought them, all while gorging themselves on the candy Tsubaki had brought them. All in all, they managed to have a fun day without any worries like Aiji, or his father or anything else in the world.

* * *

"Are you excited to be going home?" Masaomi asked that afternoon when Wataru was finally released from the hospital. Each child was holding one his hands as they left the hospital.

"Yeah, I want to come home soon," said Wataru.

"You seem happier too, Masaomi. Did something good happen to you?" Kimi asked.

"You could say that," said Masaomi smiling brightly, remembering Miss Hogo's nice cousin.

When the three siblings got home, they were greeted in the living room with a big banner the read WELCOME HOME BIG HERO. All of his other siblings including Futo were standing under it. Nearby there was a also a huge table full of food and drinks.

"Welcome home Wataru!" Ema said kneeling down to hug Wataru.

"I'm so happy to be home!"Wataru said as he ran to her and wrapped his one good arm around her.

"Your arm's nor looking too bad," Ukyo said.

"We got you the markers we promised," Ema said nodding to the table.

"I get to sign first! I get to sign first!" Kimi immediately shushed running to the table.

"Yes Kimi, we remember," Azusa said grabbing the pack for her and letting her pick a color.

"I pick pink!" Kimi said grabbing the marker and writing her name alone with the words big hero on it. She also attempted to draw a bunny face on it.

"Good job Kimi," said Ema.

"Do you want to do it now Big Sister?" Kimi asked offering her the marker.

"Yeah Big Sister, you sign!" Wataru begged.

"Okay, I'll sign in pink too," said Ema, taking the market from Kimi.

"Make sure you save room for everyone. We all want to sign it I think," said Tsubaki. "I wonder if I should try writing you have a crush on someone, like say your teacher?"

"No, don't!" Wataru whined.

"How about just for that Tsubaki signs last so he has the least amount of room?" Azusa said, smacking his brother upside the head.

"Oh thanks," said Tsubaki.

"Oh come on now. Let's not turn this into something unpleasant," said Kaname. "This is supposed to be a happy homecoming right?"

"Yes, a happy homecoming all around," everyone suddenly heard the sound of Miwa's voice from above. Everyone looked up at the top of the stairs to see her and Rintaro standing there smiling at them.

"Mom?" said Masaomi, "did you too just get home?"

"Mmm-hmm, we came in through the back way," Miwa said as she hurried down the stairs. She made a mad dash towards Wataru. "Oh my poor baby!" She said as she flung her arms around him, "I'm so sorry you had to suffer like this!"

"I'm okay Mom, really," Wataru tried to insist to his mother.

"You look like you're doing fine son," Rintaro said as he came and stood behind Miwa. He smiled down at Kimi who was standing next to him. "You look like you're doing pretty well too dear," he said picking her up.

"I'm alright, Wataru saved me after all," said Kimi.

"That's right, he's a big hero!" Miwa said proudly patting Wataru's head. Then a scowl appeared on her face. "And there's still the matter of dealing with the man and son who did this to him!"

"Dear, we just got back. Aren't you at all tired?" Rintaro asked.

"No, I want to at least confront those, those, pests!, right now! Let them know I'm here in person and ready to make sure they pay for what they've done to this family! Especially to our little ones!" At that she snapped her fingers, "Ukyo!"

Ukyo gave off a sigh. "Yes Mother?" he asked.

"What do you have for me?" Miwa asked.

"I have something, it's at the office though," said Ukyo.

"Then let's get going. Come on, the sooner we do this, the sooner we can start being happy were home and Wataru was released from the hospital," Miwa said heading towards the door.

"Miwa," Rintaro said trying to calm her down.

"Darling, please, the whole plane trip home I've been thinking of doing this. Let's just get it over with," Miwa said seriously.

"As stubborn as she is beautiful," said Rintaro, "sorry Ukyo."

"It's okay, I should have known better," Ukyo said.

"Natsume, you should come too. You're Ichigi's co-worker aren't you? You know where he lives or how he works," said Miwa.

"Not really," Natsume said, "but I'll come if you want me too." He followed his parents and brother out.

Kimi took a deep breath before running after them as well. "Mommy, Daddy can I come too?" She asked.

"No Kimi, this is adult stuff," Natsume said.

"Please, I want to make sure Aiji know I'm not scared of him anymore. He won't intimidate me anymore or Wataru," said Kimi.

"Let her come, I'll keep her next to me the whole time," said Rintaro picking Kimi back up.

"Let's do this then," said Miwa as she led the march to the door.

"Maybe we should all go," Masaomi suddenly said, "let them see how powerful the whole Asahina family is."

"That's a great idea Masaomi," Miwa said. She looked back to her remaining sons and daughter, "you heard your big brother we're all going!"

"We are?" Futo asked, not sounding too thrilled of the idea.

"Yes we are," said Miwa said in a no nonsense voice. The remaining Asahina family members all looked at each other, before giving in and following Miwa's example out the door.

* * *

_Ding-Dong_

"Yes, this better be important," Ichigi said as he opened his front door. He nearly had a heart attack when he saw all of the Asahina family standing in his front yard, including Miwa and Rintaro, still holding Kimi.

"What do you people want?" He asked, trying to not sound scared beyond all reason.

"So you're Mr. Ichigi," Miwa said. She out stretched her arm and shook Ichigi's hand, " hi, my name is Miwa Asahina and this my husband Rintaro."

"Nice to meet you," Rintaro said, also shaking Ichigi's hand.

"What do you people want? Didn't you hear? My family is moving and we really need to get packing for it," Ichigi said as he tried backing int his house.

"Honey, who is it?" Mrs. Ichigi asked coming to the door herself. Behind her was her son too. "Oh god, it's them, that stupid family!"

"Don't call my family stupid!" Miwa snapped. "We're only here to do one thing, to let you know that we're not pressing charges against you nearly killing our son and daughter...,"

"It was an accident, " said both father and son.

"Sure," said Miwa.

"You pushed me on purpose, " Kim whispered to Aiji. Aiji just sneered at her.

"Anyway, we're not pressing charges, but we are asking for compensation for the trauma you've inflected on my children, courteously of my second son Ukyo," said Miwa.

"And what's that?" Ichigi asked.

Ukyo walked up and handed him some paperwork. The couple looked down at it and both their mouths dropped.

"You're suing us?!" Ichigi asked.

"Yes but don't worry, you'll still have enough to move," said Miwa.

"But we won't be able to get one of those high rise apartments you promised me!" Ichigi's wife whined, "We'll have to settle for some cheep feeble apartment!"

"You can fight it if you want, but, that just means you'll have to stay here longer. Do you want to stay here?" Miwa asked.

"No!" Ichigi shouted, as long as you're here, we can't be!"

"Well, then, I wish luck in the little apartment you manage to find with your new life," Miwa said. "Let's go everyone, we've done our part." The family all turn to leave.

"Bye Aiji, hope you can learn to be nicer at your new home," Kimi said

"Now Kimi," Rintaro said as he started to turn to follow everyone else. As he did, Kimi's foot seemed to swing out and kick Aiji in the head.

"Oh my baby!" Mrs. Ichigi screamed when she saw her son get kicked.

"Oops, sorry," said Kimi.

"Kimi, you didn't do that on purpose did you?" Rintaro asked.

"No Daddy, it was an accident," Kimi said.

"I'm really sorry for that," Rintaro tried to say.

"Just go!" Ichigi ordered, "the farther away our families are from each other, the better. And we'll pay the amount as long as we never have to see you again."

"Fine," said Rintaro.

"Sorry Daddy," Kimi said.

"In a weird way, I'm sure it's fine," said Rintaro.

"Thank you Daddy," Kimi said hugging her daddy's neck. She looked back at the Ichigi family. Ichigi looked at her with a stern look. "You are my daddy, aren't you Daddy?"

"Of course, I love you sweetie," said Rintaro.

"And all my brothers are my brothers aren't they?" Kimi asked.

"Yes, that's what makes a family after all," said Rintaro.

"Yeah, my real family," Kimi said happily, "I love my family."


	56. Chapter 56

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Kimi sat in the back seat of her parents' car next to Wataru, actually smiling as she kicked her feet a little. Wataru also looked happy, kicking his own feet around too.

"Well glad that's all over with," they heard their mother say.

"Do you think we really had to sue them?" their father asked.

"Well, if they had just moved away and not bothered hitting Wataru, I may have not bothered with it. But they've hurt my baby like that and you can rest assured you won't ever forget it easily!" Miwa declared.

"Hmm, I supposed you're right," Rintaro said. He looked at the two little ones through the rear-view mirror, "I wonder, do you think we should take Wataru with us too for a while?" he asked.

"Maybe we should, it couldn't hurt to help look after him for a while," said Miwa.

At that Kimi stopped kicking her feet. We're her parents talking about taking her away from her other brothers again?

"Mommy, are you going to take both Wataru and me away?" she asked timidly.

"Well just to Daddy's apartment," said Miwa, "that's what we were going to do when we first brought you home."

Kimi remembered that. However, now she didn't want to go there. She wanted to stay at the condo with her brothers and sister. Couldn't her parents just leave her there and spend time with her during the day?

"Kimi, is something wrong?" Miwa asked as she seemed to notice that Kimi had seemed to lose her happy attitude.

"Do I have to leave?" Kimi asked.

"Well, it's not like you're really leaving sweetie," said Rintaro, "You're just going away to my apartment for a while."

"No!" Kimi suddenly shouted, "I don't want to leave!"

* * *

When the family came back to the condo, Kimi didn't wait for anyone to unstrap her. She did it herself and bolted out of the car, running fast to the condo.

"Kimi!" Miwa called out after her.

"No!" Kimi shouted back as she ran.

"What's wrong with Kimi?" Ema asked, getting out of one of her brothers' cars.

"For some reason, she seems to be upset about us taking her to Rintaro's apartment," said Miwa.

"That actually doesn't surprise me," said Masaomi, "she's been very happy here and she hasn't sound too thrilled of leaving it."

"Hmm," Miwa grumbled, "so, this is going to be a little tougher than originally thought."

* * *

Kimi ran into her room and slammed the door behind her, making sure to lock it the way her brothers had show her. As she did she heard a scream. She turned around to see Juli jumping up from the bed in surprise. He looked over at her.

"Little Chi, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Juli, what are you doing in here?" Kimi asked.

"Hmm, I wanted to make sure you were alright after Rintaro and Miwa took you with them and everyone else to see the evil wolf pack, especially since Chi forgot me somehow," said Juli. "How did it go?"

"Mommy and Daddy took care of Mean Aiji and his parents," said Kimi.

"Good!" Juli said, "but then, why are you so upset Little Chi?"

"Now Mommy and Daddy want to take me away. I don't want to leave here! I like it here now! I like being with my brothers and sister!" Kimi said sinking to the floor.

"Oh Little Chi," Juli said as he came and jumped onto her knee, "I'm sure your parents will do whatever it takes to make you happy."

"But, I don't want them to be unhappy either," said Kimi.

Suddenly they both heard the door handle jingling.

* * *

"Oh dear Lord, who taught her how to lock the door?" Miwa asked her other children standing around her. "Know what, never mind, I think I can guess easily who did."

"Want me to go get the master key Mother?" Masaomi asked.

"No, not yet," Miwa said as she instead kncoked on the door softly. "Kimi, it's Mommy. I know why you're upset. You're scared about leaving here and leaving the only family you've known since we brought you home. I'm sorry we scared you like that honey. You just let us know when you're ready to come out and talk okay?"

* * *

"What should I do Juli?" Kimi asked.

"You heard the lady, you don't have to leave until you're ready," said Juli.

"Okay," Kimi said. Then she raised her voice louder for her mother to hear, "Okay Mommy."

* * *

"Good girl," said Miwa, "Daddy and I will be downstairs when you're ready." She turned back to the group, "alright everyone, let's leave her be for now and go do your own thing," she said ushering them all away. Then she looked at Wataru, "and as for you, your dad and I still have to sign your cast and show you some of the gifts we brought you."

"Okay," said Wataru. He looked at Kimi's door, "are you sure Little Sister will be okay?"

"I'm sure in time," said Rintaro as he held Wataru's hand and led him downstairs with his mother and few other siblings.

* * *

"What are we going to do about Kimi?" Rintaro asked as he and some of his family relaxed in the living room.

"Maybe you should just leave her here," said Ema, "you can still come and see her everyday."

"That is true," said Miwa, "however, I was really looking forward to being able to act like a mother to Kimi, if only for a small while."

"I'm sure we can work something out," said Masaomi.

"Sure we can," said Ukyo bringing his mother some tea. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Masaomi offered as he hurried off. When he came to the door, he was surprised to see Miss Akemi Hogo and her cousin Izumi Hogo standing there.

"Oh, hello ladies," said Masaomi, slightly blushing.

"Hi," said Akemi, "I um, hope this isn't a bad time but I was taking Izumi to a special café for some coffee and we were wondering if you and your brother would like to come with us."

"Uh well um," Masaomi sputtered.

"Masa, who's there?" they suddenly heard Miwa shout back.

"Who's that?" Akemi asked.

"Um, my mother, she and her husband just got home," said Masaomi.

"Oh, so it is a bad time," said Izumi starting to turn to leave.

"Masa, what's going on?" Miwa said as she came up behind her son and saw the two ladies. "Oh, who are these nice young ladies?" She asked intrigued, smiling at the two women.

"Uh this is Akemi Hogo and her cousin Izumi Hogo. Miss Hogo is Kimi's teacher," said Masaomi, "this is my mother Miwa Asahina.

"Oh nice to meet you," said Miwa, "so what brings you by?"

"Uh well," Akemi sputtered, "I was just stopping by because I was taking my cousin to this café for some coffee and she wanted to ask Masaomi and Ukyo if they wanted to come along with us."

Miwa turned to her son with a rather intrigued look on her face. "Masa, why didn't you or Ukyo mentioned you were seeing someone?"

"Well, it hasn't really happened yet," Masaomi said quickly.

"Well come in real fast ladies. I'm sure Masaomi and Ukyo would love to go with you for coffee," Miwa said as she practically dragged the two girls into the house.

"Uh, Mom, are you sure? I mean, we still have that Kimi problem to worry about," Masaomi said as he followed after the three women.

"What Kimi problem?" Akemi asked.

"Oh, we're trying to decide if we should take Kimi to my husband's apartment with us or let her stay here. She's actually happy here and we want her to be happy," Miwa explained.

"Oh, I see. Maybe I could help," said Akemi.

"No, that's fine, this is something for us as parents to figure out, for a change," said Miwa right as they came to the living room, "Ukyo, look who's here."

"Oh!" Ukyo said in surprise, nearly dropping the cup he was serving to Ema.

"Who's this?" Rintaro asked.

"This is Kimi's teacher Akemi Hogo and her cousin Izumi," said Miwa with delight.

"Oh, is Kimi in trouble or something?" Rintaro asked.

"Oh no," Akemi started to say.

"They're here to see Masaomi and Ukyo apparently. They want to go get coffee with them," said Miwa, getting more and more excited about the whole situation.

"Oh really?" Rintaro also said, sounding seriously interested, "that's great. Go for it, we'll hold down the fort here."

"Are you sure it's no big deal if we go?" Ukyo asked before glancing towards Akemi.

"Yeah, go, have fun, be single men for once," Miwa said pushing Ukyo towards Masaomi and the women, "you four go, have fun, we'll see you when you get back okay? Bye-bye now."

"Well, let's go then," said Masaomi. The four adults all quickly headed out.

"That's so sweet they're able to do that now huh?" Ema said, watching the four leave happily.

"Very much so," Miwa said, almost with pride. "It's nice to let them be adults for once, not just substitute parents." She looked like she was seriously thinking about something. "Hmm, that actually gives me an idea," she said.

* * *

"Was it really okay that we're doing this?" Akemi asked as everyone walked out.

"If our mother says it is, then it is," said Ukyo.

"I'm sorry, this was all my idea," said Izumi.

"No no it's fine, this is a nice idea," said Masaomi kindly, "it might be nice to go on a little date for once. It's been a while since either of us have been on one."

* * *

"So you come here often?" Ukyo asked at the coffee café as he and Akemi took a seat.

"Yeah, at least every weekend," Akemi said, "I like it here."

"It's cute," said Ukyo smiling. Both absentmindedly reached over and held each other's hand.

* * *

"Hey," Izumi whispered to Masaomi as they came up to the table where Akemi and Ukyo were sitting, "want to grab another table so we can leave those two alone?"

"Sure, why not," Masaomi said. The two moved to another table further from the table Akemi and Ukyo were sitting at.

"I was really excited when Akemi told me she was going to introduce me to someone when I got here. I've been having nothing but bad luck with men back in my old home town. And you seem even better than how she described you," said Izumi.

"Well thank you," said Masaomi.

"She told me you're a doctor and the oldest of 15 children. What's that like?" Izumi asked.

"It's really interesting," Masaomi said as he started talking about himself. Izumi listed with a smile. Then after a while she talked about herself. By the time they were done with their coffee, both seemed to be really enjoying their time.

* * *

"I almost don't want to interrupt them," Akemi said softly when she and Ukyo had finished their coffee and looked over where Masaomi and Izumi were sitting.

"I know, me neither," said Ukyo, "but st the same time, we probably don't want to overstay our welcome here."

"True," said Akemi.

"What time is it anyway?" Ukyo asked, looking at his watch, "It's not too late, maybe we could go get some dinner, the four of us even."

"Sure, Izumi and I can go back to my place to change and then meet back at the condo," said Akemi.

"Sure," said Ukyo. Both stood up and walked over to Masaomi and izumi's table.

"Uh yes?" Izumi asked looking up at them.

"Um, Ukyo and I are going to dinner and wanted to know if you want to come with us," said Akemi.

"Sure, that sounds nice huh," said Izumi.

"Sure, I'm all for that," said Masaomi, "do you want to go home and change and meet up later?"

"We were thinking of meeting back at the condo," said Ukyo.

"That'll be perfect," said Masaomi, "say in an hour?"

"Works for us, see you then" said Akemi. She and Izumi gave each date one last smile before taking off.

"So, how did you and her get along?" Ukyo asked as he and his brother left the cafe.

"Great, she's an amazing woman," said Masaomi happily.

* * *

Kimi opened her eyes to the sound of knocking on the door. She didn't even realize she had fallen asleep.

"Kimi," she heard her mother's voice from the other side of the door, "can you come downstairs real fast? There's something I want to talk to you and your two big brothers about."

"Um okay Mommy," Kimi said as she slowly opened the door to see her mother's smiling face.

"Come on, I have something really exciting to talk with you and them about," Miwa said taking Kimi's hand and leading her to the stairs.

Kimi walked with her, not saying much. She felt something suddenly land on her shoulder. She looked around and saw it was Juli.

"Don't worry Little Chi, this time around, I'll make sure nothing bad happens," he said. Kimi actually giggled.

"Thanks Juli," she said.

* * *

Masaomi and Ukyo were still smiling and talk about their first date and the upcoming date when they got home and walked towards the living room.

"This is going to be great don't you think?" Masaomi asked.

"Yeah, I think so," said Ukyo.

"I hope it is too, whatever it is," said Miwa. Both Ukyo and Masaomi turned to see her sitting on the couch with Rintaro and Kimi.

"What's going on here?" Masaomi asked.

"Rintaro and I have an idea in regards to Kimi," said Miwa.

"Oh are you leaving with her then?" Masaomi asked.

Kimi looked up at her mother in a panic.

"No, she's not leaving here, you are," Miwa said calmly.


	57. Chapter 57

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN BROTHERS CONFLICT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM

Both Masaomi and Ukyo looked at each other confused before looking back to their mother. Kimi aslo looked at her mother confused as she sat on her father's lap.

"What do you mean we're leaving Mother?" Masaomi asked finally.

"Well, this is just an idea Rintaro and I talked about while you were gone. You two have always been doing more than your far share of looking after your brothers and now your sisters. Even when you were young, it often felt like I had to leave you two in charge of your younger siblings. While I've, barely acted like a real mother to you or any of your brothers over the years."

"That's not true Mom!" Masaomi tried to insist.

"Yes Mother!" Ukyo chimed in.

"Even if you say that, there's still a lot more I could have done as a mother which you two should have had more freedom to do things normal men are allowed to do, like say go freely on dates. So, Rintaro and I have decided that if you're up to it, you two may go spend some time together at Rintaro's apartment while we stay here at the condo looking after mostly the little ones for a change, " said Miwa.

"You're letting me and Ukyo go stay at Rintaro's apartment for a while?" Masaomi asked.

"Yes," said Rintaro, "you two should be allowed to be men and maybe try looking for that special someone without having to worry about the burden of being a parent to your younger siblings."

"It's not that much of a burden," said Masaomi.

"Yeah, we don't mind at all," said Ukyo.

"Well that's good," said Miwa slightly giggling, "but you should know some freedom from such a responsibility once and a while, freedom you can use to oh, I don't know, date maybe?"

"So basically, you're wanting us to go stay at Rintaro's apartment so we can have an easier time to date?" Ukyo asked.

"Yes, like say those two women who visited today," said Miwa, winking at her sons.

"Mother," said Masaomi, "that was just one date! We don't know if it's going to go anywhere."

"Well, with you staying at your own Batchelor pad, you'll have more of a chance to find out, don't you think?" Rintaro asked.

"I supposed," said Masaomi, looking towards Ukyo again. Ukyo shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if our parents are insisting on it," he said, "and if it's only for a while."

"Oh yeah, you'll never know when I'll be called back into the field," Rintaro muttered.

"And you know how much of a workaholic I am," said Miwa, "who knows when I'll feel the need to get back out there."

Both her sons nodded in agreement.

"Kimi, will that work for you? You'll get to stay here with most of your brothers and your sister with Mommy and Daddy taking care of you while Masaomi and Ukyo have some alone time. I'm sure they'll come by to visit from time to time like Natsume," Miwa said.

"They'll come back right?" Kimi asked.

"Oh of course we'll be back Kimi," Masaomi said walking over to her and taking her hand, "this isn't like before. We're just going to make sure Daddy's apartment is safe for a while, so Daddy and Mommy can stay here to look after you, Wataru and anyone who needs looking after."

"Oh yes, all the wolves need to be looked after!" Juli muttered.

"Everyone will be happy right?" Kimi asked.

"Well, as happy as we can be with the way everything is going," said Rintaro.

"When will you come back?" Kimi asked.

"Probably after a few weeks, when Mommy and Daddy have to return to work," said Ukyo.

"Are you okay with that Kimi?" Miwa asked.

Kimi thought about it for a moment.

"I, guess," said Kimi, "but you'll be back right?"

"Of course!" both Masaomi and Ukyo said together.

"We should go pack huh?" Masaomi asked his brother.

"Yes and let the ladies know we should probably just meet up at the restaurant," said Ukyo.

"You're going out with them again?" Miwa asked excited.

"We were hoping too," said Masaomi.

"Well, then go and hurry and get packed!" Miwa encouraged.

"In fact, if you want we can take your bags to the apartment if you want so that's one less thing you have to worry about," said Rintaro.

"Sure, that'd be great," said Masaomi.

"Well get going!" Miwa ordered playfully, shooing her sons away. She turned and smiled at her husband and daughter.

"Well, I like to think everything is working out for the best," she said as she gently stroked Kimi's golden hair.

"They'll come back right?" Kimi asked one more time.

"Yes dear, they'll be back," said Miwa, "that's the special thing about this house. It's the one place any true Asahina knows will stand as place they can call home and can feel free to come back to whenever they need it."

"Don't you feel the same way Kimi? You're a true Asahina," said Rintaro.

Kimi looked up at her parents' kind faces.

"Yeah!" She said excited, "I'm a true Asahina and this is my home where my family is!"

"That's our girl!" Miwa said as she and Rintaro gathered her up on a big group hug.

"Good for you Little Chi," Juli said as he watched the happy sight.

"So they're both leaving for a while huh?" Tsubaki asked Azusa as the two stood on the deck where they could see Masaomi and Ukyo in their rooms packing.

"Looks like and apparently Mother is going to try sticking around for a while," said Azusa.

"Oh and I assume that means her husband will be here too huh?" Tsubaki asked.

"Well I would think so," said Azusa.

"Well, that might make things more difficult, even if there's less competition here now," said Tsubaki.

"There will always be competition when it comes to her, if she's what I think you're talking about," said Azusa sternly.

"Well of course," said Tsubaki, "But there's also the competition in regards to making sure we know who Kimi's favorite brother is."

"Right," said Azusa.

* * *

"What do you mean Miwa and her boy toy are staying here while Masa and Kyo leave?" Futo asked Yusuke annoyed.

"Don't ease drop!" Yusuke snapped back at him.

"Well is it true? Because if it is, the only reason I'd want to stay around here is for either her or a photo stunt with the little pest you call a sister," said Futo.

"Don't call the kid a pest and what makes you think she'd ever want to see you?" Yusuke asked.

"Well I don't know, maybe she'd want to see a real man once and a while," said Futo.

"Why you!" Yusuke shouted.

* * *

Subaru was outside shooting hoops when he happened to overheard someone behind him. He turned around to see Natsume walking towards him.

"What are you doing back here?" Subaru asked.

"I forgot to drop off another game for Wataru," Natsume said, "did Mom and Rintaro figure out what they're going to do about Kimi?"

"Yeah apparently they're sending Masaomi and Ukyo to stay at Rintaro's apartment for a while so they can have more freedom to do things like date while they stay here to help look after Wataru and Kimi," said Subaru.

"Are they?" said Natsume, "huh, I wonder what that might mean in regards to the rest of you, especially with Rintaro around his daughter more."

Subaru stopped shooting hoops at that. "I assume you're only talking about her?"

"Yes, and also Kimi, since she has her real father back," said Natsume.

* * *

Iori was tending to some of his flowerbeds when he happened to notice Louis standing nearby looking happy.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" he asked.

"I was just thinking about the new hair styles I'll be able to do now with Mom, Chi and Little Chi all here. That could be fun," said Louis.

"I supposed," said Iori as he plunked a flower, "I'm just glad Kimi's happy with all of this."

"Me too, I think everyone is happy with all of this," said Louis.

* * *

Hikaru was smiling to himself as he thumbed through a magazine of the newest women's clothes designs when he saw Kaname heading to the back door holding a boutique of flowers.

"And who pray tell are those for?" he asked smugly.

"I was just going to see a recently jilted elementary school principal who was dumped at the altar. I figured she could use a little heavenly council," said Kaname, "with dear mother and father here, I have more free time to do such a thing."

"Oh dear, I can only imagine the kind of council you'll be offering," Hikaru said, "good luck."

"Thank you, though I think heaven and the gods are on my side tonight," Kaname said with confidence as he headed out.

* * *

Kimi skipped past Wataru's room when she heard him and Ema talking.

"See you can do this with one arm," said Ema.

"Yay, I got it!" Wataru said. "When I'm done, I'm going to let Little Sister play!"

"That's so nice of you Wataru," said Ema.

Kimi smiled before going on to her own room. She sat down at her desk and started to color a big family picture that she was going to give to Masaomi and Ukyo to take to the apartment so they wouldn't forget them. She looked it over as she finished it, and smiled proud of her work.

"I love my family!" She said, "I love being their little sister."

**THE END**


End file.
